Memories
by KreatyveKookie
Summary: Jay was a completely somewhat normal girl. That is, until she's taken to CHB and told she's an ultra powerful demigod. Jay must learn to keep her secrets, her memories, her wits, her charm, her sanity, and most importantly, her heart.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The answer was 254.

I watched as the boy next to me shifted and nervously looked around the room for answers. Mr. Drake had purposefully asked him the question after he saw the boy doodling on the back of the worksheet that had been handed out. It was a mistake I had made many times and had the backs of all my tests and graded worksheets to prove it. Fortunately I was a multi-tasker, so I could give out the answer almost immediately.

I tapped my foot in impatience, my 3 minute attention span was used up, and that's when I looked at the ceiling. I found weird shapes and things that wouldn't be there had I not focused my eyes in a certain way. Mr. Drake noticed my dawdling and said, "Miss Pouli would you like to tell me the answer."

I said, still looking at the ceiling, "254, the next one is 160 and the one after that is 454." I felt the gaze of Mr. Drake on my face and I swung my head to look at him. We had a mini staring contest in which I won. He shook his head and focused on the worksheet again. I sighed in relief and waited for class to be over.

After 15 more minutes of math and square roots I walked down the halls of Alter Creek Academy. I stepped into my dorm after jamming the keys in the keyhole (a.k.a. the boy's peep hole.)

I took in the familiar surroundings. The carpets were black, the walls were white, and there were two queen sized beds with black and white covers. There was a black desk that had organized drawers and files holding homework and school supplies. There was a bathroom that had a similar black and white theme. There were posters all over the room of favorite song artists my roommate, Thalia, and I had put up.

Speaking of my best friend, I saw Thalia lying down on her bed with her face in the pillows. I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. She groaned, "Go away," so I lay down on top of her.

She grumbled but finished off laughing, "God, Jay! You really need some meat! You're all skin and bones!" I knew that was her way of telling me that I weigh only like 90 lbs. and I'm 13. I laughed with her, "if I was all skin and bones, why do you have bruises from every time I do this?' I made a fist and lightly punched her in the arm. She faked pain and rolled on the floor dramatically. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her iPod and earphones.

"You could ask!" Thalia complained. I shrugged, "I could, but I won't." Thalia sighed and grabbed the other ear bud, popping it into her ear. I did the same and let Thalia choose the song.

So we sat and listened to Green Day, "Wake Me up When September Ends." Thalia looked over at me and said, "You know for a former red head you're alright." I rolled my eyes, "I better be!"

Thalia was one of the only ones who knew that I used to be a red head. Now all is good, though. I look super-mega-awesome-foxy-hot with my straight, medium length hair that has side sweep bangs over the top of my right eye. Did I mention it's purple? Like neon purple? Did I also mention I have a belly button ring, four earrings on each ear and have Sharpie "tattoos" all over me? If I didn't mention the hair, the piercings, or the "tattoos" it's my mistake.

After listening to that, "21 Guns," by Green Day and "Dirty Little Secret" by AAR, I remembered what tomorrow was.

"Crap," I whispered, realizing tomorrow was April 19th. Unfortunately, I forgot that Thalia had only one ear bud in, "What?" She asked me. I sighed and mumbled, "Tomorrow's my birthday."

Thalia shot up, making my ear bud fly out of my ear. "Are you serious?" She asked. I rolled my eyes, "No, I just said that to make myself feel better. Of course I'm serious!" Thalia smiled, "I better get you a present." I glowered at her, "If you don't I'll kill you in your sleep. . . No actually I'll kill you while you're awake so you can feel it."

Thalia cracked a smile and I did the same. Suddenly there was a bang against the door and a muffled, "Ow!" Immediately I whipped up and made my way towards the door. I waited in silence until I heard breathing against the door.

I opened the door quickly and they came crashing in. By 'they' I mean Cory and Steven, our most frequent 'visitors.' Cory sat up quickly while Steven kind of crawled out of the room. I raised an eyebrow and Cory smiled sheepishly, "Uh, um, yeah," At that he ran out in the direction Steven had crawled in.

I shut the door and walked back to the bed were I found Thalia smirking at me, "You have a fan club." I rolled my eyes, "and you have a C- in Math. Go study."

She smiled and walked towards the desk while I took a shower, brushed my teeth and hair, and changed into my PJ's. I sank into my bed and thought about how magical and fantabulous tomorrow would be. Note the sarcasm.

Tomorrow wasn't _just _my birthday. No, it happened to also be the day that something happened that even Thalia doesn't know. It was the day that my 'daddy' decided to make my life harder and tougher and God knows crazier. It was the day I started to grow up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The answer is a hug.

I woke up the next morning feeling like I should yell at one of my teachers. Oh well, too bad it was Saturday. _Too bad it's your birthday, _a little voice in the back of my mind said. Suddenly it hit me, today I am 14.

I turned over in my bed and almost screamed when I saw Thalia's face inches from mine. I jumped up and she laughed, holding out a little box with a polka dot bow on it. _Oh joy! _I thought (note sarcasm.)

I grabbed the box suspiciously and shook it a little. I rolled my eyes, "Jewelry, probably cost around 20 bucks, you bought it with your Christmas money."

Thalia pouted, "How do you do that?" I shrugged, "It's a gift." She rolled her eyes, "Just open it!" I did as told and opened the box to find a simple chain necklace with a pedant that had a black dot with a light blue circle around it, then a white circle around that, and finally a blue circle around that. It was incased in a glass seal.

I looked up at her in confusion, "The evil eye?" Thalia smiled, "Yeah, it means protection against bad things." I raised an eyebrow, "Really?" She nodded. I smiled and hugged her, "Thanks Thalia! I love it."

She smiled back and I put on the necklace. Well, I was going to keep it in the bathroom but Thalia insisted/demanded that I wear it. So, now I'm wearing an evil eye around my neck. So far everything was okay.

Then I checked the time, 9:45 am, "Crap!" I exclaimed and hurried to get ready for my Singing Ed. It was a group of about 12-15 people and I was one of them, a rather important one of them in fact.

I rushed to my dresser and fished out my Green Day shirt and my skinny jeans. I ran to the bathroom, changed, brushed my teeth and hair, and shoved my feet in my black Converse. I applied eye liner, eye shadow, and mascara. Then I was out the door.

I walked (okay I ran) down the hallway to make it to my 10 o' clock class. It was the only class I had on Saturdays and on Sundays I had dance and art club. I crashed through the door and found that almost everyone was there. I walked towards Mrs. Stevens and asked what song we were singing today.

She wrote my attendance down in a notebook and then looked up with a smile, "Katherine gets to choose." I nodded, remembering that today was her song day. A song day is where the scheduled person gets to choose the song.

I walked towards my friends, Matt, Katherine, Caroline, and Tyler. They were probably the most normal friends I have, yet they were still weirder than normal people. Mrs. Stevens looked at Katherine expectantly, as did everyone else.

Katherine thought and then smiled widely, "I want Jay on the guitar, leading. . ." She didn't finish. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "What? Are you sure?" Katherine nodded without skipping a beat, "Yeah, you can play strings and piano, plus your voice is better." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms; although I was secretly happy she thought I was good at singing. Katherine continued, "I want to sing the song "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz with everyone singing along."

Mrs. Stevens nodded and I stepped over to where the guitar was. I picked it up and Katherine nodded for me to sit next to her. I sat on the spot on the risers. I cleared my throat and began on a C chord.

"_Well you done, done me and you bet I felt it_

_I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted_

_I fell right through the cracks_

_Now I'm trying to get back_

_Before the cool done run out I'll be giving it my bestest _

_And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention_

_I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some_

_But I won't hesitate no more, no more_

_It cannot wait, I'm yours_

_Well open up your mind and see like me_

_Open up your plans and damn you're free_

_Look into your heart and you will find love, love, love, love_

_Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing_

_We're just one big family_

_And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved, loved, loved oh loved_

_So I won't hesitate no more, no more _

_It cannot wait, I'm sure_

_There's no need to complicate_

_Our time . . ."_

I was suddenly interrupted by the opening of the door and a girl rushing in. I stopped as did everyone else while the Am note hung in the air. She had frizzy, ginger hair, a spray of freckles on her cheeks, bright green eyes, and an air about her that made her seem wiser than the average teenager.

She stepped up to me and I nearly flinched back in confusion. She whispered quietly only for me to hear, "You're time is soon, Jay. Cherish what normal days you have left."

She stepped back and started walking back towards the door. I called out, "What?" The girl smiled, "You'll understand soon enough, oh . . ." She trailed off and walked towards me, placing my fingers on the Am note again, but as I was going to transition to the next F note.

She looked up and smiled, "Our time is short. Start at "is short." I was confused until I remembered the song. I was about to say that I could've just started from the beginning, but realized something in horror.

Around the room people's heads were still turned towards the door. They looked frozen. I almost shrieked but Mystery Girl shook her head and whispered, "Our time is short, this is _your _fate, _he's _yours." She softly sung the lyrics and then backed towards the door.

Once the door was shut the Am note continued and I found myself singing, ". . . Is short, this is our fate, I'm yours." People shook their heads in confusion but continued singing also. Throughout the song there were smiles and laughter.

Not mine though. The only thing I could think about was Mystery Girl and the words she had said, _"Our time is short," _were bouncing around my mind and nagging at my ears, telling me to follow everything she just said.

When Singing Ed was over I put the guitar back and ran quickly to my dorm. On the way I felt the words tugging on me. I felt tired and haunted, I think I started crying. Yes, I definitely started crying. The tears swam in my eyes and dropped onto the floor.

I reached the dorm and dug the key into the keyhole. I crashed through the door recklessly and collapsed on my bed. I almost forgot about Thalia, so I jumped in fright when I heard her voice ask, "Do you need anything?" I nodded, "I need a hug."

Thalia smiled and gave me a great bear hug that slightly made me feel happier. That went away though when she asked, "What happened?"

Her voice was filled with worry and a hint of motherly firmness that made me know I couldn't avoid the answer. I breathed in deeply with my face in the blankets and my head on Mystery Girl's words.

I sat up and wiped away my tears so that Thalia couldn't see what an ugly crier I was. I breathed deeply and calmed down before starting. Thalia sat next to me and raised an eyebrow in concern.

I sighed, "I went to Singing Ed and was singing "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz." Thalia nodded, being familiar to the song. I continued, "In the middle of the song a girl came in and everyone looked at her. . ."

I continued the story, explaining what she said, the people freezing, and how no one knew about it afterwards. Thalia became more knowing throughout the entire explanation. By the end she nodded in acceptance and had a sad, disappointed face.

I was obviously confused, "What's wrong?" I asked, with any traces of my tears gone. Thalia gave me an obviously false smile and shrugged, "Nothing," She said, but her voice went up and octave. Clear as a bell she was lying, I should know because a) she sucks at lying and b) I rock at it.

Thalia is the one who can demand anything and anyone and I'm the one who can lie to anything and anyone. It's a good mix, but sometimes gets us in trouble. I mentally rolled my eyes but went along with it.

Thalia spoke, "I'm gonna call some of my friends from back home. I want you to meet them." Instantly I mentally shrunk. I felt a little sad actually, I had forgotten that I wasn't Thalia's only friend. I felt a little guilty not knowing or realizing sooner that it isn't just her and I.

I barely heard her as she spoke on the phone. I was dozing off and trying to fight it. Thalia finally got off the phone and looked around the room nervously as if she was in trouble for using it.

She smiled at me, "They'll be here tomorrow, I've got a birthday trip planned out for you and they're gonna go too. I really think you'll like them." I nodded and yawned. She patted my shoulder, "Why don't you go to bed? We'll celebrate your birthday tomorrow.

I nodded sleepily and fell asleep, not bothering to get ready or change. Right now I just wanted to sleep. I closed my eyes and held onto the persistent tug of sleepiness and was pulled into my dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The answer is living.

I woke up the next morning with sleep in my eyes. I stretched and fell off the bed. I groaned and crawled to my drawer and grabbed some clothes to wear. I then continued crawling to the bathroom where I slammed the door and locked it behind me.

I got up and rubbed cold water on my face, waking me up enough to get changed. I then changed into my Paramore T-shirt and some black skinny jeans. I brushed my teeth and brushed through my hair until it looked presentable. I then applied eye makeup and put on my trusty ole' Converse.

I then walked out of the bathroom with only a slight sleepiness. I walked over to my bed and made it. I looked over and found that Thalia was still asleep. I sighed and walked over to the window, hoping to get some fresh air in the room.

God, I love fresh air. It's just so . . . FRESH! Ya know? I opened the window and saw that it was rainy and stormy outside. I frowned and went over to my laptop that had my Cookie Monster case over it (it's fuzzy and you put the laptop in it and then you fold the mouth part over it – it's AWESOME) to see my polka dot laptop.

I logged into the Alter Wood Academy website and saw that both dance and art club were cancelled until further notice. Okay, then.

Suddenly there was a crack of lightning and roll of thunder. Instantly Thalia woke up with wide eyes. I smiled and waved, "Good morning."

She looked at me and calmed down, "Oh, hey, Jaybird." She said getting out of bed in a more graceful, non-crawling way than I did.

She went into the bathroom to get ready when I heard my phone ringing. I picked up my phone to an unfamiliar number, "Hello, this is Jay, what's your favorite color?" I heard the static sounds of distant chuckles.

Suddenly a guy's voice came from the other line, _"Hey, my favorite color is probably blue or green. Is this Jay?" _

I nodded and then remembered he couldn't see me from the other end, "Yeah, this is Jay. Who are you?"

The voice replied, _"This is one of Thalia's friends, Percy. She told me to call you in case her phone wasn't working." _

I could tell that somewhere in that sentence he was lying but decided not to bring it up, "Oh, yeah, did you want to talk to her? She's busy right now."

I heard some static on the other line and then, _"No, that's okay. Actually I just wanted to know what building and dorm you guys are in."_

I narrowed my eyes a little and replied, "Ah ha, I'm not gonna give out information so easily, I may not be book smart but I'm street smart and I'm gonna need to ask you some questions first." 

There was mumbling on the other end and then, _"Okay, shoot." _I smiled, "Well, since you don't know much about me, I'm going to ask you things about Thalia and other random things, okay?"

"_Okay," _Percy replied.

I cleared my throat, "How old is Thalia?"

"_15."_

"What school does she go to?"

"_Alter Wood Academy,"_

"What color does she have in her hair, other than black?"

"_Blue,"_

"Pirates or Ninjas,"

"_Uh, pirates."_

"In five seconds what is the 13th letter of the alphabet?"

"_Uh . . ."_

"Five,"

"_Wait!"_

"Four,"

"_A, B, C, D, E . . ."_

"Three,"

"_H, I, J . . ."_

"Two,"

"_Oh! It's the letter M!"_

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! We live in the Violet Building; it looks like what it's called. We're in dorm 44 on the 4th floor."

"_Oh, okay, thanks!"_

"Apparently you're welcome, but if you misuse any information I have the right to slap you, hunt you down and possibly murd . . . Oh hey, Thalia! Sorry, gotta go bye!" I finished as Thalia walked out of the bathroom, I hung up and put my phone in my pocket.

Thalia raised an eyebrow and I shook my head, "Just some of your friends." She nodded in understanding and then waved her hand in beckoning to go to the cafeteria.

I followed with a smile on my face and absolutely no worries for today. We walked into the huge cafeteria and chose our food. We sat down at a nearly empty table and I dug into some waffles that looked yumful.

We sat and talk and suddenly my phone vibrated. I looked at it and saw it was a text message from that Percy guy.

"_We're here. Where are you guys?"_

"We're girls. Not guys and we're in the cafeteria,"

"_K."_

I went back to my waffles while casting occasional glances at the door to see if they were here. I looked at Thalia, "So, who're your friends?" I asked.

She smiled and swallowed a mouthful of bacon, "Well, there's Percy, who I assume you've been texting, then there's Annabeth, his girlfriend, and a guy named Nico _might _be coming, but I'm not for sure."

I nodded, "Do they know much about me?" Thalia shook her head, "Only that you're, like, my best friends and that your name is Jay Pouli."

I frowned, "Do you think they'll think I'm weird because of how I look?" I asked. Thalia smiled, "You _do _have violet colored hair, around 8 piercings and have an interest in music like Green Day and Paramore. I think they'll be more surprised by your personality though. You're the most ADHD affected, hyper, funny, sarcastic, witty, amusing person I know."

I smiled, "All things that I take pride in, I say Thalia, have you been reading my emails?" I asked all fancy-schmancy. She laughed and I involuntarily looked towards the door again and almost looked away when I saw them.

There was a tall guy about Thalia's age that had messy, black hair, sea green eyes, and a muscular build. Then there was a girl with blonde hair that was in a pony tail, gray eyes, and looked like a valley girl gone college professor. Last was a guy I almost didn't notice. He was younger looking, maybe my age or more. He had olive skin, black, shaggy hair, dark eyes, and looked muscular but like he still was going through a growth spurt.

I was about to wave to them when I noticed Hannah, the snotty girl of Alter Wood strut up to them. She raised her nose and said, "Who are you people?" She asked giving who I assumed were Percy and Nico an adoring look.

The tall guy turned a little red, the girl rolled her eyes, and the younger one just looked uncomfortable. Hannah leaned up against the younger one and said in her best dreamy voice (which really wasn't at all dreamy,) "Who might you be?"

The boy looked like he wanted to run away from the cafeteria, he was so uncomfortable with her. Thalia still hadn't realized that they were there so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I grabbed a grapefruit off of Thalia's plate; she looked up at me in confusion, "Dude!" She complained. I ignored her and swung my arm back. Then I tossed it, aiming for Hannah's head.

I heard a satisfying _thud_ and then saw Hannah turn around furiously, "Who did that?" She shrieked. Everyone was silent. Thalia swung her head over and saw them, she waved and then saw the scene and immediately became defensive.

Everyone sat and I snorted. I stood up and raised my hand above my head and waved it around, "Oh, Hannah! It was me, your Highness! Please forgive me!" I said in a fake pleading tone that Hannah didn't catch onto, "Well, I guess but . . ."

I interrupted her, "Please forgive me again!" Hannah raised an eyebrow, "For what?" She asked in the completely silent room.

I smiled and threw my banana at her head. It bounced off and landed on the ground. I laughed a little. Hannah turned red, "Jay?" She asked.

I frowned and said sarcastically, "_No, _it's Cardinal, doofus." Hannah resembled a tomato and I noticed something that I'm sure no one else noticed about her. I watched her reaction and she said, "Jay, do not treat me like . . ."

She didn't finish because I walked up to her and shoved a waffle into her face, "Like what?" I asked, "I human buffet?"

She shrieked, "What do you think you're doing?" I smiled and watched as the younger guy stared at me in surprise. I turned back to her and then jumped onto the top of the nearest table, "Hannah, dear. I do believe I'm living." She turned purple with rage and I shouted at the top of my lungs, "FOOD FIGHT!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The answer is explanations.

My shrill voice echoed throughout the cafeteria and suddenly food was flying everywhere! It was awesome, I am so proud of my fellow students.

I pushed the three new guys out the door and waved my arm for Thalia to hurry. She stuffed one more piece of bacon in her mouth and ran across the cafeteria, somehow avoiding to get hit by food.

We all rushed down the hallway with me in the lead. Thalia shouted, "Where are we going?" I rolled my eyes, "Narnia, Thalia, we're going to freaking Narnia!" I said sarcastically. She snorted and I smiled.

The truth was we were heading towards our dorm. I think Thalia realized that when I grabbed the key out of my pocket. We ran down the 4th floor hallway and I jammed my key in the keyhole. I shoved everyone inside and then shut and locked the door behind me.

I stared at everyone breathlessly, "Well," I said as everyone breathed heavily in confusion, "I'm obviously Jay."

The tall guy smiled and held out his hand, "We talked before, I'm Percy." I took his hand and smiled, "You do seem like a guy that would choose pirates over ninjas." Percy and the other two laughed a little while Thalia just stood in confusion.

I waved to the girl, "I'm guessing you're Annabeth, because I seriously doubt his name is." I said pointing to the guy my age. She nodded, then I turned to the youngest, "And you're Nico, right?" I asked. The boy nodded and I smiled.

Nico spoke up, "So, why did you cause a food fight back there?" I could feel my face whiten, "Nothing, you'd think I'm crazy." I said smiling unsurely.

Percy stepped forward, "Come on, and tell us!" I sighed and nodded, "Okay, but don't laugh!" They nodded and I lowered my voice, "Well, at first I was just trying to get you guys away from there but before I, well, shoved a waffle in her face I swear I saw a. . ." I made my voice lower, ". . . tail."

They looked at each other. Before anyone could say anything I said, "I know it was probably me just being crazy and all, but ever since that girl came I've been trying to look out for things."

Annabeth looked at Thalia, "What girl?" Thalia smiled worriedly at me and then said in a low voice that I could still hear, "I think Rachel dropped in for a visit."

I raised my eyebrows, "Explanations needed." Thalia shook her head at me and said, "Jaybird, I really don't think . . ."

"Now," I said flatly. Thalia looked at her friends and they seemed to have a silent conversation. I leaned against the wall until their staring contest was over.

Thalia sighed in defeat and came up to me. I swear she was going to walk right through me but instead she did something completely out of the blue. She snapped.

Everything in the room was silent, as if the sound had scared everything into silence. Thalia had a reluctant look on her face but she finally said, "Jay, you're going to forget the tail and Hannah, you're going to go on the trip today and you're going to pretend like that didn't happen."

I felt a little dazed and looked at her in confusion. Annabeth and Percy seemed like everything was okay, but Nico stared at me in pity.

Thalia was about to turn around but I grabbed her arm, she looked at me in question. I cocked my head and snapped too, "Yeah and you're going to forget that I have a D in Literature and do the chicken dance. Seriously, Thalia, what's up?"

All four of them stared at me in shock. I shrugged, "What?" I asked. No one really answered. I sighed, "Whatever, I'm taking a shower before we go. Do I need to pack anything?"

Thalia nodded, a little dazed, "Uh, yeah, pack 5 pairs of clothes for now, I don't know how long we'll be there."

I nodded and did what I was told. Then I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I stripped and stepped into a warm shower.

I squirted shampoo into my hands and washed my hair, then I conditioned. I used a loofa to wash my body with a body wash that smelled like honeysuckle and cinnamon vanilla.

I washed off, shaved and shut the water off. I blindly grabbed for a towel and wrapped it around me, still standing behind the checker board shower curtain.

I stepped out into the cool air that gave me goose bumps and quickly dried off in order to put my clothes on. I pulled my shirt and pants on and looked up at the mirror.

I saw my reflection and shrieked in shock. Like literally, I screamed at the sight of myself. In the mirror I saw my purple hair had just magically changed into its original auburn color. I watched as it grew down to my waist and my eyes bugged.

I heard Thalia pound on the door in response to my scream. She shouted in worry, "Jaybird? Are you okay? What happened?" She asked.

I stuttered in confusion, "I-I'm alright. My hair is . . ." I trailed off and just looked at it. It was dry although I had just gotten out of the shower. It was smooth and straight, and looked like the fading embers of a fire with small streaks and highlights of black. My bangs had grown and fell straight across the bottom of my eyebrows.

Thalia knocked again, "Jay, come out here." I shook my head, "Only Thalia can come in." I said, still shocked. I heard them murmur to each other and Thalia said, "Okay."

I opened the door so that I was blocked by it and Thalia could come in. She walked forward and I shut the door and locked it. Thalia turned to look at me and she yelled out in surprise, "AH!" She shouted.

I put my hands over my eyes and leaned against the bathroom wall. Thalia gaped at me, "What'd you do?" I dropped my hands, "I just got in the shower and I come out looking like this!" I replied gesturing towards my hair.

Thalia smiled, "You look awesome, though." I rolled my eyes, "I _always _look awesome and this is not an exception." Thalia laughed, "Really, Jaybird, I don't think it matters, let's just go."

I nodded and opened the door for her. She walked out and I followed feeling as if I was being exposed to the world. I looked at the floor as I walked over and sat on my bed. I looked up to see Percy and Annabeth looking at me in confusion, Thalia packing stuff in her bag, and Nico looking emotionless.

"Wha . . .?" Percy started. I shrugged, "Magic hair, it's the new rage, didn't you hear?" I said sarcastically. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows and then turned to help Thalia pack. Percy stood there for a moment just staring at me and then shook his head and started playing with a cheap pen. I sighed and looked down.

I felt someone sit down on the bed next to me. I looked up to see Nico's cave-like eyes staring at me. I smiled weakly and then stared at my hands. After a while of the girls packing and Nico staring at me we were finally ready to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The answer is life stories.

Thalia had packed my stuff into the bag she was taking so I didn't have to carry anything, yay. We got into a van with 7 seats. Percy was in the driver's seat, Annabeth was in the passenger seat, Thalia was sitting in one of the two seats in the middle, we put suitcases and stuff on the seat next to her, I was taking up 1 ½ of the three connected seats in the back, as was Nico, but of course on the other side. If he was sitting where I was that'd just be extremely awkward.

Percy started the car and we drove away from Alter Wood Academy. Annabeth dug her nose in a book and Thalia listened to her iPod. Nico and I really didn't know what to do, so with our feet next to each other in the middle and our backs leaning against the sides of the van, we aimlessly talked about things like the weather.

Somewhere in the conversation Nico told a story about how one time he and his sister Bianca had gone to a drawing booth where they drew realistic pictures of the two of them and how it had come out looking really horrible. We both laughed when Nico showed me a picture he had taken of it on his iPod. I said still smiling at the photo, "Why didn't your sister come?"

I obviously had wandered my way into sensitive territory. Percy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Annabeth looked up from her book to look at us. Thalia, who seemed to have heard our conversation, took out her earphones to listen.

Nico's face had darkened and he looked out the back window, "Um, about five years ago she died in an accident." I immediately felt guilty for bringing it up, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to . . ."

Nico shook his head and looked at his hands, "No, it's okay. I just wish it could've been me instead of her. She took care of me like a mother you know? We were shipped off to a military school by my father. My mother died when I was little and I guess Bianca just filled the gap that my mom left. She practically wasted her whole life taking care of me."

There wasn't a lie in that whole speech. I took his hand and he stared up at me in surprise, "I doubt she thought of it that way. You know, my mom left me when I was a toddler. My dad was a philosopher so he obviously tried to find ways to fix things. I thought he had forgotten all about her two years later when he married a pretty girl he worked with named Rose. They had a child, a boy, they named him Bryan and we were all a happy family for a few years."

Nico was still red for I was still gripping hand. Then Thalia, who hadn't heard this story asked, "Wait, a few years? What happened?" I sighed and looked down, "Well, after a while my dad started looking into things on my mother, he found some sort of lead and stayed in his den for weeks. He was driven mad by whatever he found out, I guess. One day while I was working around the neighborhood in the summer, trying to earn some money everything went wrong.

I heard a scream and ran back to my house. I walked inside and found furniture flipped over and windows broken. I-I found Rose and Bryan shot dead in the kitchen. I looked for my father, stupid, I know, but I needed to find him and see if he was okay.

I found him in his den, a gun in his hand. He had my family's blood on him and he looked at me, heck, he pointed a gun at my face! He didn't shoot me though, he just said, "You look so much like her." Then he shot himself in the heart three times and collapsed.

I went to the funeral and went to court and watched as my father was proclaimed a guilty dead man that deserved to die. I moved in with my neighbor, Ms. Howard, and she became my guardian. I dyed my hair purple so that I wouldn't look like _'her'_ anymore and came to Alter Wood Academy. I met Thalia and now here I am." I laughed, "And the worst part was that I was working out of the house because it was my birthday. My dad decided to kill my dreams of being happy on my freaking birthday." I said trying to hold back any more emotion.

Nico stared at me in utter surprise. Thalia grabbed my free arm in concern while Percy looked at the road in horror and Annabeth wiped away tears that were slowly rolling down her face.

I smiled, "Aw, come one guys! I've lived with this for three years and it didn't even happen to you! I don't want you guys pitying me just like Nico doesn't want me pitying him. It's life; you gotta deal with what you got and make it better."

Thalia gripped my hand tighter and then let go, Annabeth smiled at me, Percy gave me a strong nod that I could see in the rear view mirror, and just as I was about to claim my hand again, Nico held it tighter.

I looked up in shock and he said, "You're tough and you're right." I smiled and looked at the picture that was still showing on his iPod, "I bet I can make a way better picture than that!" Nico smiled and shook my hand, "It's a deal."

He let go of my hand and reddened a little. I grabbed a sketch pad out of my school bag and a pencil. I asked him if he had any regular photos of him and Bianca. Nico nodded and showed me one on his iPod that he had uploaded.

I started doodling away and promised myself to work extra hard with shading and quality on this one because it was to make up for the one that started the whole life story conversation.

I finished up the drawing and gazed at it proudly. It was a picture of Bianca and Nico standing in front of a big, scary building that said, "Westover Hall." Nico looked younger, maybe 9 or 10 and was smiling bigger and happier than I'd seen him in the past few hours.

Bianca looked a lot like Nico and wore a green cap that almost covered her eyes. I gave Nico the drawing and he smiled at it with a melancholy mist that sat in his eyes.

I smiled inwardly and dozed in and out of sleep as we rode across the highway. I didn't know where we were going but I knew one thing for sure. I _hate _surprises.


	6. Author's Note

**This is an author's note!**

**Okay, so I've gotten reviews that say that I'm stealing some other author's idea? Well, I don't know. I've actually seen things like that in published books. Not just fan fictions, thank you very much. **

**I don't mean to be stealing this other author's idea; I'm just using material from other ACTUAL books I've read. You all do the same thing when you write a fan fiction. So if you have a problem with me doing the same things you do then you are a hypocrite and should really work on that. **

**If this other author has a problem with me "stealing their idea" then they can tell me and I will explain the exact same thing to them. **

**I've read this in other books that are published so don't be telling me that I'm a criminal and that I'm stealing good work, okay?**

**Thank you for telling me, but honestly I can't do anything about it because it's the way I write too. Sorry to the author that may or may not think that I've stolen their idea, but this is my first fan fiction and would rather like it if I wasn't being wrongly accused of stuff and things.**

** ~Anonymous Midget 99  
**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The answer is my mother and some strawberries.

I woke up to find that I was still in the van. I heard a thumping noise and sat up to see Nico banging his head against the window. I raised an eyebrow at him, "What's up?" I asked him. Nico looked at me and I noticed that the sun was setting outside, was I really asleep that long?

"My iPod's dead." He groaned. I smiled a little in amusement and grabbed my bag. Nico sat up a little, "What're you doing?"

I shrugged, grabbing my iPod and earphones out of my bag, "Sharing is caring, right? This, Nico, is to show that I care." I plugged the earphones into the iPod and popped the left one into my right ear, I'm so rebel, I know! I held out the right one for Nico.

He smiled and grabbed it and put it in his left ear. Man, this car is just _full _of daredevils! I mean what kind of people mix up the earphones?

I turned on my Touch and entered the pass code. I went to the music app and scrolled through the artists A-Z. I clicked on All American Rejects and chose "It Ends Tonight." Nico smiled as the song started playing.

Throughout the rest of the night Nico and I took turns on who got to chose the song and eventually both fell asleep during the song "How to Save a Life" by the Fray.

That night I dreamed of myself. At least I think it was me. If it was I then I looked older, maybe in my twenties. My straight hair was longer, down to my knees. My lips were a bright red and I wore a long, silky dress – which is weird, because I _never_ wear dresses.

I was surrounded by roses and looked as if I was in a forest. I gazed over my surroundings and asked the woman, "Are you me? Am I you? Are we us?"

The woman smiled and replied, "No, Jay, I'm your mother, your friends have not told you where you're going, but once you arrive you will not receive the sign you long for. I am truly sorry for that. I am here to tell you that I am your mother, Mnemosyne. After three days of being at your destination, tell them who I am to you. I being me cannot send a sign and cannot claim you properly, but keep me in your memories."

Her green eyes laughed as if she had just made a funny joke. Her beautiful voice spoke through me, "Jay, not many of the people you meet soon will have parents that say they love you. I love you, though, you're the first child I've had in a long while and I am truly sorry of what you've had to go through. Remember, in three days."

Her voice faded out and I jumped up into the light of the morning with the lyrics of "How to Save a Life" still playing. I sat up and found a rose that looked like the kind from my dream on my lap.

I picked it up, avoiding the thorns and sniffed it. I closed my eyes and relaxed. I checked the time and saw that it was 5:30 in the morning and the only one up was Percy, who looked like he was going to conk out any second.

I held the rose tight against me and watched as Annabeth slowly woke up too. She offered to drive the rest of the way and Percy thankfully agreed. We pulled over and they switched.

We drove about another 45 miles before Nico woke up. He grabbed the earphone out of his ear and gave it to me. I smiled at him and put my iPod away. He relaxed a little and looked at the rose suspiciously, I shrugged, "Realistic dreams: what are you going to do with them?" I yawned and Nico smiled but his eyes were troubled.

About 20 minutes later Thalia woke up and stretched hugely, almost swinging her arms into my face. "Welcome to the living Thalia!" I said.

She rolled her eyes and repositioned herself so she was looking out the window. I watched outside and saw rolling fields of absolutely nothing. Every once in a while I'd see a farm house or a cow but that was about it.

I opened my window to let some fresh air come in and was startled by the force of it blasting in my face. I held my hand out the window and instantly it was pulled back into the side of the car. I flinched and pulled my hand in. I wasn't sure why the wind was so strong but I was pretty sure it wasn't a good sign.

Nico sat up a little as I pulled my hand back in. He raised an eyebrow, "What happened?" I shook my head, but Thalia looked back at me too. "What's wrong, Jay?" She asked. I sighed, "The wind, that's all."

Thalia furrowed her eyebrows and rolled her window down. She hadn't even opened it all the way when suddenly a large crash of wind pummeled her hair to the side of her face. She closed it quickly and looked at me with her hair covering her face, "Well, that's a problem." She stated.

She tapped on Percy's shoulder, "Hey Perce, how fast are we going?" Percy shrugged, "Uh, 70, why?" Thalia opened the sky light and stuck her head up and out. She gazed at the sky for a little while and whispered something to Annabeth and Percy.

I didn't hear all of it but what I did hear was, "Wind . . . fast . . . my dad . . . thunderstorm." I looked at Nico in question but his face was sheet white and he was looking through the window with a sick look on his face. I glanced up at Thalia, "What's happening, what thunderstorm?"

Thalia took a long breath, as if she were going to explain something complicated but instead just said, "Nothing, we'll be there soon. Keep an eye on the wind for me, would you?" I nodded with my eyebrow raised, "Uh, yeah, but . . ." Thalia shook her head, "Don't ask."

That was the only time I've ever seen Thalia look weak. I set my jaw and nodded, "Yeah." I opened the window slightly and felt the tug of wind on my skin.

After about 15 minutes of me feeling the wind, Nico watching the sky, Thalia speaking quietly with Annabeth, and Percy staring down the road and going 20 miles faster than he should, I smelled something odd in the air.

I sniffed again and actually put my nose in the finger nail sized crack where the air was coming through. I sat back down and turned a little red when I saw Nico just kind of staring at me with a look that said, _"What the H-E-double hockey sticks is wrong with this girl?" _I smiled sheepishly but kept on sniffing.

It was an extremely familiar scent, yet it was kind of hard to place. I went through smells in my mind. Cinnamon: Nope, Roses: No, Grass: Not, Cow Poop: Yes, but not what I was thinking of. Suddenly it came to me. I tapped Thalia on the shoulder and she looked away from her conversation with Annabeth, "What?" She asked. I sniffed again, "Why does it smell like strawberries?"

Thalia smiled and whispered, "We're almost there. Sit tight; it might get bumpier as we get closer." I nodded and sat back down in my seat. I didn't really know what she meant by "it might get bumpier as we get closer" but I really hoped that the flashes of lightning, the smell of the ozone layer, and the deep rumbles of thunder that made my eyes vibrate didn't have anything to do with it.

**A/N: Okay, so I'm dedicating this chapter to FoxBracken because they've written a comment for almost every chapter and I'm really appreciative to that! So, I hope you don't mind that I'm putting your name out there (please don't sue me!) I just really wanted to let you know that it really means a lot!**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The answer is Camp Half Blood.

I jumped as a flash of lightning appeared in the gray sky. I looked back to see Nico twisting a ring around his finger and looked forward to see Thalia whispering words under her breath.

Suddenly Annabeth pointed out the window, "Over there, I see it!" Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico sighed in relief whereas I sat confused.

A little ways ahead I saw a big hill with a pine tree on top. In the now pouring rain I saw an odd figure under it and it looked as if someone had left a sweater hanging on one of the branches. But that's it. There was nothing else there, "Uh . . .?"

Thalia started grabbing things together even though we were still moving. Once we stopped Thalia and Annabeth got out quickly starting carrying stuff in. It was evening now, and the rain was still coming down in buckets. I saw a flash of lightning in the distance and Nico looked like he was going to be sick. I unbuckled and grabbed Nico's hand. He and I got out of the car while Percy grabbed a bag full of what looked like golden coins.

I shrugged but jumped when thunder suddenly screamed in my ears. Annabeth and Thalia dashed up the hill, each with a bag on their back. Percy took Nico and me by the arms and helped us up the slippery hill. I looked up at where the pine tree was and saw that there were two torches that were somehow still lit despite the weather. The torches sat in front of a large arch that read in weird words, **Camp Half Blood. **

I fell behind a little and watched Thalia and Annabeth pass the arch. Drops of rain cascaded down and over my eyelashes. I saw as Nico and Percy made it past the arch. This time I saw clearly that a little purple glowed around the arch as they stepped in.

I was only 3 feet behind them when suddenly I felt something grip my ankle. I whipped around and saw a grotesque woman with snake like features and reptilian skin. She hissed at me with fangs and a pointed purple tongue, "_Thisss iss where your life endsss, little demigod."_

I shrieked in horror and felt her claws rake across my back. I kicked her out of instinct and flipped her to the ground. She wailed in outrage.

She surged forward with hatred in her slit eyes and venom in her fangs. She snapped her jaws at my neck where my life vessel was. I stumbled backwards and watched as she edged down to me. She was about a foot from my face; I could smell the rotten death in her breath.

I looked at the moon, which might've been my last sight. The clouds parted around it hesitantly and I saw it. Full and beautiful and glowing, the moon blew away the heavy rain clouds. I felt my eye lids fluttering as the blood escaped my body. I felt coldness spread from my toes and fingers to my shoulders and neck.

Her teeth set close to my neck I said words of farewell in my mind. I looked at the sky one last time and was surprised to see a dark figure crash into the woman. His silhouette graced the skies and I felt that I was going crazy.

He brought out a small sword and seemed to dance around the woman with strikes and dodges that seemed rehearsed and lived for. I felt my breath slowing down and blackness edging my eyes. I watched as the boy was knocked into a tree and rendered unconscious. I snarled.

I am Jay Pouli. I am NEVER weak. I don't fall under the weight of ugly snake women that aren't suppose to be real! I got up and felt pain shoot up my upper spine and the back of my head and neck. I ignored it and punched the snake woman in the face. She growled but I heard it weakening. I grabbed a nearby branch and whiplashed it into her. She fell backwards and I watched in the moonlight. Her sickly figure was interrupted by another silhouette that struck a sword into her chest.

I blinked in surprise as she disintegrated into nothing. I looked at the girl and stumbled in shock as I saw myself. I was sure that it wasn't my mother. She looked exactly like me. Her eyes were hard and her body was more muscled. She wore armor and held a beautiful sword at her side. She glanced up at me and she smiled despite the situation.

She was radiant. She practically glowed with beauty inside and out. She took a step forward to me and then looked back at where the unconscious boy lay. She smiled even brighter with something I couldn't quite place. Love, maybe?

I felt my hands shaking and was about to say something, maybe a thank you. Before I could say anything though, she cocked her head to the side as if listening to something and waved goodbye. She disappeared. It almost looked like she faded away into a shadow.

I opened my eyes wide and heard the yells and shouts of Thalia far off in the distance. I was suddenly reminded of my back wound when a flash of pain shot through me. I cried in pain and was rendered unconscious.

I guess I should say that my ears woke up before I did. In my pleasant dreams I heard voices of worry and wonder all around me. I heard familiar voices like Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and Nico. I also heard new voices, some sounded ancient, and some sounded young, some sounded caring, and others sounded guarded.

I didn't know what they were saying half the time but when I did hear them I wish I hadn't. It gave me too much to think about and too much to dream about.

The back of my head and neck throbbed whenever I tried to think too much. I opened my eyes without warning and groaned as lights shined in my eyes. Annabeth came rushing over and gave me a Sippy cup full of something that looked like apple juice. Yes, I said Sippy cup! They're awesome!

I grabbed the Sippy cup and drank from it. I spat it back out straight onto the floor when I tasted it. It was NOT apple juice. It tasted like a coffee chiller with whipped cream. I spat it out not because it tasted bad or because I was surprised – although I was surprised – I spat it out because whenever I have coffee I go haywire and start doing things that get me kicked out of Disney Land (don't ask.)

Thalia laughed a little bit, "That's how they all react." I rubbed my eyes with my sleepy hands, "They? Who are they?" Percy's voice dragged my eyesight to the other side of the room, "New demigods in Camp Half Blood." I stared at him for a good long while, "Demigods, as in half human, half god?" Percy nodded. I snorted in response, "Good luck with that story, now if you don't mind, I just had the craziest dream and would _love _to know where we are."

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Camp Half Blood! You saw the sign didn't you? We got you're wounds treated from that fight last night. It was pretty nasty, good thing Nico was there."

I stared at her for a while, "Nico? Wait, that was real?" Thalia smiled grimly, "You barely made it. You didn't break anything but you got a pretty bad concussion and some nerves in your back were damaged. You have a gash on your back and something might be wrong with the back of your head, but you should be okay for now."

I stared blankly in horror at the floor and played with a strand of my hair. Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth didn't say anything. I sighed and breathed deeply, "How's Nico?" I asked.

Thalia looked down and Percy bit his lip. Annabeth cleared her throat, "He should be in his cabin. He hasn't woken up since two days ago, after the fight."

I gasped, "It's been two days?" Percy nodded, "Yep, after you recover fully we'll tell you more, but for now drink that," He said pointing towards the Sippy cup, "And stay put."

I nodded in understanding and sat back down into my bed. I asked Thalia to get me my stuff and once she did I fished my iPod and a book out of my back. I read slowly and listened to Paramore while everyone gave me way too much time to think.

I thought about everything that had happened. I felt slightly shaken and confused. I sipped the coffee flavored drink and heard, in the back of my mind, a woman's voice say, _"Three days time."_

Well, I was going to be in this bed for that time or more, so I might as well dream up some more family heritage. At that I closed my eyes and sunk into the covers of my bed.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I skipped into Happy Dreamland with spring in my step and high hopes of finding an aunt or uncle or even a distant cousin by the name of Richard who raises pigs for a living. Instead I found a large room with fancy marble floors, big golden pillars, a high ceiling with a painting of a beautiful girl in a dress, and flowers in vases everywhere.

In the middle of the room I saw two people. There was a woman with long, wavy hair that seemed to shift colors every few seconds. Her face was a beautiful put together of a zit-free nose, big red lips, and alluring eyes that changed colors like a cheap mood ring. She wore fitted jeans, a little green tank top, and designer shoes that made clicking noises when she moved.

The other person was a tall man. He had tan skin that looked like it had been powdered to look pale. His eyes looked like bottomless nightmares with black irises. He had arched eyebrows that made him look stern and had big lips that framed perfect white teeth. His hair looked neatly trimmed and went to the middle of his neck. It was black and looked like wavy shadows. He wore a black button down shirt and pants that seemed to have live shadows sewn into them. He would have been beautiful if it weren't for the permanent frown on his face and the weary circles under his eyes.

I guessed that they were having a serious conversation from the hard, urgent look in the man's eyes and the nervous posture of the woman. The man whispered something angrily and the girl laughed. The sound echoed throughout the room. She then spoke in louder words that I could hear, "Oh, Hades, you shouldn't worry! I've got everything under control. Trust me, they'll be perfect."

I almost tripped onto the ground when I heard the name. Hades is the freaking god of death and I'm standing 30 feet away from him! If he's a god then the woman must've been a goddess. I stood up straight and fixed my dream hair even though I knew it was probably making porcupines look good. I straightened my shirt and felt self conscious of being this close to what I thought were make believe fossils.

Hades started pacing and the goddess repeated, "Trust me." Hades flinched at the words. It looks like the big bad god of death has some trust issues. Hades stopped pacing the floor and growled, "Why would I trust the goddess of love with my son! You hardly handled anything with Persephone and me!"

I raised an eyebrow. _Huh, _I thought, _it's pronounced [Purse-eff-oh-knee?] I thought it was pronounced [Purse-eh-phone.]_

During my vocabulary enhancement I realized that Hades had just given me crucial information. Love goddess . . . wasn't that Athena? No, Demeter? No! No! No! It was Aphrodite! This was Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Speaking of the love goddess, I realized that she kept on giving me quick glances. She _knew _I was here whereas a certain death god didn't even acknowledge my presence. Wait, had Aphrodite brought me here? Was I supposed to be here? Could Hades even try to see me?

I listened in as Aphrodite sighed, "You have to commit too, Hades! I mean seriously . . ." Hades interrupted her with a quick wave, "I don't want to hear about _my _love life, I don't want any embarrassment on my behalf!"

I tilted my head in confusion. Embarrassment . . .? Did Hades know I was here? I anywhere but at the two gods and found myself gazing absentmindedly at the marble walls. I was about to touch the wall behind me when suddenly I saw a flash of darkness.

I looked at the other side of the room and saw that there was someone else here. I looked closer and saw it was a boy. I bit the inside of my mouth – terrible habit I know but I couldn't get out of it – and felt a familiar air around the boy.

I thought names through my mind but was interrupted when I heard shouting from the center of the room. I whipped my head back to the scene and saw Hades with a red face shouting at Aphrodite, "If you do anything to harm him I will find the most gruesome way to torture you in the Fields of Punishment! I swear on my Helm that you won't live to see your next hair appointment!"

At that he flashed out of the room and with him the all too familiar boy. I glanced back at Aphrodite and she flashed me a flustered smile that still looked gorgeous. She waved me over with perfect nails and I rushed over. She smiled, "Jay, it seems you have found your way to Alethia's Room, Alethia being the spirit of truth."

I looked at the ceiling and saw the painting of the girl who must be Alethia. Aphrodite smiled, "Sorry, you had to see that. I was just finishing up a meeting with . . ." I finished for her, "Hades, god of death." She closed her mouth and nodded.

Aphrodite started fixing her hair although she was hardly the one who needed it. She gave up and looked at me in the eyes, "Jay, I have arranged a very, ah, difficult love life. I've decided that you will go through the good and bad and that you will sometimes question my purposes, but I encourage you to not do anything stupid like join a certain group of crazy girls with bows and arrows." I raised an eyebrow but she just continued on, "Just promise me that you'll always believe in love and that you'll forgive me for the things you go through, okay?"

I hesitated but winded up nodding. Aphrodite beamed, "Okay, I'll let you go now; someone's waiting for you outside of your dreams. Just remember your promise and don't disappoint me."

She faded away along with Alethia's Room and I found myself back in the infirmary. I looked around the room and found Thalia sitting in a chair with her eyes looking tired and sad. She looked up as I started moving and smiled weakly. I looked at her with a question in my eyes and she sighed, "I need you to come with me."

"Why?" I asked. She bit her lip and looked forlornly at the floor, "Nico still hasn't woken up, and Will Solace found a bite mark located on his side along with a gash on his shoulder. He's been infected with venom and we're not sure if he's going to . . ."

That's all I needed to know. I got up and ignored the throbbing pain in my back. I heard beeping from the machines that sat next to me and looked on the ground to find a bag. I opened it and found a fresh pair of clothes.

Thalia touched my shoulder and gave me a look that said, _"Get your injured butt back in bed before I do it for you." _ I gave her a look of disbelief and she sighed in defeat. I pulled on the orange shirt that was supplied in the bag. It was really big so it fell around my shoulders and went to my mid-thigh. Thalia helped me pull on the jeans that were more fitted than the shirt. I laced up the blue and white sneakers and sat up with only a dull pain in my back.

I threw open the door and walked with purpose off the steps and into a large opening with unbelievable structures, busy people, weird looking creatures, and a strawberry patch. I lost my courageous posture when the back of my neck throbbed with pain and I realized that I had no clue where I was.

Thalia stood at the doorway of the infirmary with raised eyebrows. I gave her a pleading look and she sighed and walked towards me. She put her arm around me and let me use her for support. She led me onward and only one thought went through my mind the whole way there, _"No one, not even a snake woman, messes with my friends!"_

**Okays, I just want to thank everyone who's reviewed, favorited me, and put my story on their alert thingy majinger! It means a lot! XD! I would also like to use this ending author's note to raise awareness for all the Sippy cups in the world, you can't get enough of em can you? I now declare the Sippy cup the ANNUAL CUP OF THIS STORY! Begone you regular glass/plastic cups, there's a new sherriff (sp?) in town! :P**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The answer is superpowers.

Don't you love it when time seems to be going faster when you really need to be somewhere? Me neither. It seemed to take 15 minutes to get across camp and into a beautiful black cabin labeled **Cabin 13.**

Okay, I'll admit, I'm slightly superstitious so it didn't make me feel better that my dying friend was being healed in lucky number Cabin 13. When I stepped/stumbled into the cabin I immediately felt sick.

Nico was in what I assumed was his bed. Around him sat Annabeth, Percy, and 3 other people that I didn't recognize. He had his shirt off and was wrapped from his midsection to his shoulder in gauze. _(Like this: /|||| you know if the lines were bandages and set upright) _

His face was pale and lacked any emotion, although that could've been because he was unconscious. Percy and Annabeth were sitting in fold out chairs and looked tired, as if they had been here forever. Thalia took a seat next to them.

I looked over at the people I didn't recognize. There was a middle aged man in a wheelchair that looked knowing and wise. He had a scruffy beard and looked at Nico with warmth in his eyes.

There was also a guy with tan skin and blond hair that was cut cleanly. He had blue eyes and seemed to be feeding something to Nico. The last unknown person was a girl with long ginger hair that was wavy at the tips. She had a spray of freckles across her pale face and looked at Nico with worried emerald eyes.

I shuddered and felt a wave of jealousy roar in my belly. Wait, what? Why was I jealous? I shrugged off the feeling and sat on the end of Nico's bed with my eyes on my feet. I looked around his room and saw pictures of him and his sister Bianca. I saw battle plans that lay on the walls. I grimaced when I saw his bag with the picture I had drawn for him peeking out.

While the guy fed Nico the older man looked at me with an inquisitive gaze, "Hello, Jay, is it? I'm Chiron, the activities director." I took his outstretched hand and couldn't help but wonder how a guy in a wheelchair could be an activities director.

Chiron seemingly read my mind and answered, "Oh, this chair is just a . . . outfit, you could say." I raised an eyebrow and he shook his head, "You'll found out soon enough." I nodded and pulled away. The girl smiled warmly at me and I weakly smiled back.

Thalia leaned over and whispered in my ear, "The boy is Will Solace, the healer. The girl is Rachel Dare." I nodded and glanced at Nico in worry.

We sat in uninterrupted silence that steamed of worry and dread. After Will was done feeding Nico he sat up and cracked his knuckles, "Okay, guys. You need to get out now, I have to change his bandages and use some healing magic on him."

I tried to act normal when he said _healing magic _but I ended up stumbling forward a little. Percy glanced one more time at Nico and waited for Annabeth as she touched his hand. Thalia looked tired and frowned a little when she looked at Nico and Rachel shivered. Chiron left and I was left alone with Thalia, Will, Rachel and Nico. I stepped towards Nico with a slightly outstretched arm.

I couldn't help but think that this was my fault. Nico had saved me and now he was on a possible death bed with a guy spoon feeding him. He shouldn't have ended up like this. I looked down guiltily.

I sat on my knees next to his bed and sighed shakily. It was only after I choked on my breath that I realized that I was tearing up. It _was_ my fault. Annabeth, Percy, and Thalia probably think that I did this to their friend. The sucky part is that I _did. _

The guiltiness bubbled up inside me and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I covered my face and leaned my elbows on his bed. If you'd forgotten, I'm a very ugly crier.

I brushed away the tears and wished that he would wake up. I calmed down and uncovered my face. Thalia looked sad while Will gazed at me in assurance. I smiled a little and touched my fingers to Nico's good arm.

I felt an electric shock go through me and flinched away. I stood up and Rachel looked at me in confusion, "What happened, Jay?" I didn't know how she knew my name but I ignored it. I sighed, "He shocked me like electrically."

Rachel glanced at Thalia but she shook her head. I would ask later. Solace jumped up, "Wait, touch him again!" He furrowed his eyebrows. I raised mine, "What?" He shrugged, "Just touch him." I sighed, "Okay," I knelt next to Nico again and touched his arm.

I sat there for exactly 4 seconds with my hand on his arm when suddenly he jumped. Not Will, Nico. Nico jumped. He opened his eyes wide open and sat up straight. Will quickly cut open the bandages and I watched in disbelief as the huge gash, filled with blood, torn muscle, and a greenish black substance healed and closed up. It was still pink and looked like it hurt but it looked way better than before.

Will took off the bandage connecting to his shoulder and I watched as that gash did the same as the other. They might've healed completely if I hadn't taken my hand of and stepped back. Thalia gazed at me in disbelief, Rachel flicked her gaze warily from the wound to me, Will was smiling hugely and replacing the bandages murmuring something about them not opening up again, and Nico was. . .

I put full, undivided attention on Nico. He looked like he had just resurfaced from being underwater too long. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were wide. He looked at me with thankfulness and something that I couldn't place but something that I felt like I was feeling too.

My eyes fluttered and I felt myself getting dizzy. Thalia was by my side in an instant and was supporting me. I felt like I was going to pass out and numbly felt Thalia sit me down in a chair.

I tried not to feel embarrassed as Thalia lifted up the back of my shirt, exposing the wound, the skin, and most embarrassingly the strap to my bra. I blushed red and pushed my shirt back down.

Turning to look at Thalia I realized she looked worried and was gazing in horror at me. I raised my eyebrows, "What?" Thalia lifted my shirt up again and I looked back to see my back in a conveniently placed mirror. I widened my eyes as I saw that my wound had turned into a sharp, black design on my back. It was like a tattoo.

It looked like a circle with a heart inside and out of the top point where the two arches meet came out a triangle that touched the edges of the circle. I watched as Thalia swiftly pounced over to Nico and lifted up the back of his shirt too. I don't know what she saw but I could tell from her face that she didn't like it.

I felt my eyes drooping. Whatever had happened with me touching Nico, it had taking every ounce of energy out of me. I closed my eyes and set my back into the chair. I took a few deep breaths and found myself asleep once again.

**Hey lovelies :3 I've decided I'm going to make a love triangle. Hence the triangle sprouting out of the arches. ^ Anyways . . . I want to know if I should do a love triangle with Jay, Nico, and another girl. Where Nico is kind of liking both of them and they are both fighting. Although with that I'd have to make another Point Of View for the other girl and maybe a POV for Nico. I could also do a love triangle with Nico, Jay, and another boy. Where Jay is liking both boys. Then I might not have to make another POV unless I want to. I'm kind of leaning towards doing it with another boy though. **

**What I really want to know is: Will you give me ideas? I want to know who the other point of the triangle should be, boy or girl, and if so which boy or girl? It can be a character from the actual story, or you can give me your original character! If you give me an original character I won't make them look too bad or too evil :) Just send in some messages with your answers on if it should be a boy or girl and give me some OCs! **

**Lots of Love! XD**


	11. OC Format

**Author's Note (Well Kind of)**

**Okay, so about the original character for the love triangle thing, I need this information. I also want to thank the people that have already given me some OC's and ideas. So far more people are saying that it should be a boy, but I won't decide until later (maybe 3-5 chapters later) I just want to say that I AM a fast updater with only a few exceptions so hurry and bring those OCs in if you want them in the story!**

**Okay, I need the OC's:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Hair:**

**Eyes:**

**Skin:**

**Body Format: (like skinny, muscular, fat, etc.)**

**Godly Parent:**

**Mortal Parent: (optional)  
Personality: (give me like 5-10 key words)**

**Weapon: **

**Talent:**

**Why he/she likes Jay/Nico:**

**Back Story:**

**THANKS! I'm going to hand this over to Nico now so . . . . YEAH!**

**Nico:**

Hey, I'm Nico, obviously. I'm being forced to say this *clears throat* AnonymousMidget99 is an upright crazy scatterbrained fool that has totally forgotten to put disclaimers in every chapter. So, this disclaimer coming directly from me, Nico di Angelo should count for the last whatever number chapters and the chapters to come (hopefully it can work that way:D) she also wants to let you know that you are the bestest reviewers/followers a fan fiction-er could ever have. She wants to let you know that she will be focusing on this one story till she gets to like Chapter 30 something (if it goes that far) and hopes you understand that she is too scatterbrained to be working on two stories at once. So, yeah um that's it *gets punched in the shoulder* what was that for!

**AnonymousMidget99: **That wasn't me.

**Nico: **What was it?

**AnonymousMidget99: **It was the monsters, Nico. IT WAS THE MONSTERS!

**Nico: **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHAHAHAHAH

**AnonymousMidget99: **Sippy cups for all!


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The answer is a meeting with Nico.

I woke up in the good ole infirmary. Much to my content Thalia was sitting next to me with a juice box in her hand. I gave her a pleading look, "Do I get one?" Thalia sighed and picked one up from a plastic bag of them. She tossed it to me and I grinned. No matter how much I like Sippy cups I've always had respect for a nice, cool juice box.

Thalia rolled her eyes as I sucked up the entire box of juice in seconds. I was left with the few annoying drops at the bottom that were too posh to be delivered into my mouth. I sat up and looked Thalia in the eyes.

We stared at each other for about 2 minutes until finally I whined, "I want to _do _something!" Thalia sighed and shook her head. I grumbled and fell onto the bed again. "_Why can't we do anything?" _I asked. Thalia laughed; "In case you hadn't noticed you've got a giant wound in your back that needs to heal . . ." I jumped in, "What about the markings?"

Thalia stopped dead and looked at the ground, "Um, they're still there. We don't know what to make of them." Thalia scratched her arm nervously. I kept my gaze on her and she finally looked up to see my waiting stare.

She sighed and shrugged, "Fine, I'll give you a tour of camp." I cheered and she continued, "But, you have to be careful and don't upset anyone too much." I smiled and got up to feel the persistent throb in the back of my neck. I ignored it though, as I'd been doing since yesterday and tried not to show that it hurt. Thalia would have a fit if I barely flinched.

We walked outside and I got a proper look at the camp. It was beautiful. The sun was shining with only a few white clouds dotting the sky. The cabins that Thalia had said represented each god/goddess were shining in the afternoon sun. Each had a look about them that made them look like they were supposed to be there despite their differences.

Walking around, I realized that it wasn't a normal summer camp though. There was a rock climbing wall that had lava pouring out of it. There were stables that had your typical horses but also had pegasi and unicorns. The strawberry fields that had looked normal yesterday now had half goat men and blue or green girls.

There was a big house that Thalia said was called the Big House. Wow, way to be creative. On the porch was a pudgy man that wore a Hawaiian shirt and khakis. He grunted at us as we walked by. Thalia said his name was Mr. D and not to call him the wine dude.

She explained each cabin to me which, including the minor gods lasted about an hour and a half. It would've lasted longer except half way through the cabin tour Annabeth walked up to Thalia and they started talking. So after about forever I kind of snuck away without them noticing.

I found myself back at Nico's cabin. I didn't really know what to do from there so I knocked on the door. I heard a groan from inside and took it as an invitation. I opened the door to complete blackness other than two scented candles next to Nico's bed that had green fire blazing on them. They smelled like pine trees and I suspected they had a therapeutic purpose to them.

There was another groan sounding from a huge lump of blankets in the middle of a bed. I walked over to the lump cautiously and threw the blankets off. There I saw Nico. He looked better than he had yesterday and for that I was grateful.

As I creepily stared at him (not on purpose!) I realized he looked more at rest than he had whenever I'd seen him. He started mumbling something in his sleep and I stepped back. I ended up crashing into a chair and flipping over it. I got up quickly to see Nico sitting up and staring at me. I smiled and waved. I cleaned up the mess I made and then sat in the chair that I flipped over.

Nico gazed at me for a while with curiosity gleaming in his eyes. I smiled sheepishly, "So, uh, how are you?" I asked gesturing to his side. He shrugged, "I'm doing better than I was." I nodded and breathed in a big breath of awkwardness.

Come to think of it I don't really know why I came here. I tried thinking about why and suddenly a clash of pain went through the back of my neck. I yelled involuntarily and grabbed my neck. Nico jumped up in alarm and stood defensively.

Rolling my eyes I leaned back into the chair and uncomfortably stretched my back. Nico glanced around his room and ended with his eyes fixed on me, "Thank you." I raised an eyebrow, "For what?" Nico pursed his lips, "For saving me." I don't know why but suddenly I blushed deep red and looked down. I heard a soft, amused laugh of a woman in the back of my mind. I stiffened but shrugged it off.

Nico looked at me with gratefulness written in his gaze, "Really, thank you." I rolled my eyes, "I should be thanking you. I mean who else would try and save _me, _the most annoying, obnoxious, loud, rambunctious girl from a snake demon who fancies human flesh for dinner?" Nico smiled briefly. He mumbled something and it sounded a lot like, "Anyone in their right mind." But I decided he said, "Grapefruits are a great find."

Deciding to change the conversation, Nico asked, "So, have you been claimed?" I slightly remember Thalia telling me about having a glowing orb on top of my head, telling people who their parent is. I shook my head, "Not quite, but uh . . ." I looked around nervously and hushed my voice, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Nico leaned in closer and I almost burst out giggling. His eyes were so close to mine and I could clearly see the black coffee color of his irises asking for answers. I felt my heartbeat quicken, _stupid hormones. _

I took a deep breath and said even quieter than before, "You remember that time in the car when I woke up with a rose?" Nico nodded. I continued, "Well, apparently my mom visited me in a dream." Nico perked up, "Who?" I sighed, "I'm not supposed to say till tomorrow." Nico instantly perked . . . down, "I guess I could tell you now, though." I gave in.

He smiled and I felt my heart explode, "Well, she said her name was, uh, Mnemo- Mnemosuds? No, it was like, uh, oh! Mnemosyne, I think?"

Nico's smiled dropped. I raised an eyebrow, "What is it? What's wrong?" Nico shook his head, "Mnemosyne is the goddess of memories. She's one of the most powerful figures of Ancient Greek times. She could take away, give, or control your memories. She could read every single thing that's ever happened to someone. She could make you believe you were a flying goat if she wanted you too!" He gave me a moment to let it all sink in. I stared at my hands for a while, "Cool." I stated simply.

Nico looked at me in shock, "What'd you just say?" I shrugged, "Cool. That is honestly the coolest thing I've heard in a while. Cool." Nico sat with his mouth open; I could smell the scent of cinnamon coming from his breath.

I shivered a little and was suddenly blinded by the door being opened. I heard the familiar shout of Thalia, "What do you think you're doing?" I looked over at her with squinted eyes, "Huh?"

She stomped over and literally _slapped _Nico across the face. I stared with wide eyes. Thalia snarled, "You stay away from her, di Angelo!" I raised an eyebrow and waited as Thalia took my arms and _dragged _me out of the cabin. At the door frame I looked at Nico and saw he was sitting in shock and watching.

I smiled like this was normal, "See you tomorrow, Nico!" Nico waved still in shock and watched as Thalia slammed the door and kept dragging me. I smiled and nodded to the bystanders as Thalia dragged me to the infirmary. She sat me down on the bed and stated, "You're grounded." All in a day's work of Jay Pouli.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The answer is secret practices.

I really hate being grounded. Good thing that I can sneak out of the infirmary when Thalia is sleeping. Okay, I must admit I felt a little bad sneaking out but I had to know more about my power.

I found my way to Nico's cabin at about 11:00 pm and only got lost two times. I rapped softly on the door and was met with a whiny, "What do you want, Richard?" I decided he was half asleep considering I've never heard him whine and my name's not Richard.

I opened the door and saw him bolt up to see me, "Jay?" He asked I nodded and he stood up, brushing his fingers hastily through his hair. I whispered, "Get ready, you're taking me somewhere." Nico stretched, "Since when?" I shrugged on my jacket, "Since now." I replied.

He sighed and pulled on some jeans. It was only until then did I realize he was in his boxers and a t shirt. I hid my blush behind my hair and checked myself over in the mirror. My auburn hair was tied up in a ponytail and my bangs set over my eyes. I was wearing black converse, skinny jeans, a Camp Half-Blood t shirt, and an olive colored military jacket.

I looked over at Nico and saw he was wearing gray converse, black jeans, and an aviator's jacket over a Camp Half-Blood t shirt. He pulled on a black beanie and scratched his nose. He stretched once more and asked, "Where am I taking you?" I pulled some loose hair behind my ear, "The forest."

I started walking towards the door but Nico grabbed my wrist, "What? What are you going to do in the forest?" I sighed, "I'm testing out my Mnemosyne powers. Thalia told me that I need to practice sword fighting and my powers if I received any. Well, I healed you. Let's see what else I can do."

I smirked as Nico yawned. He shrugged, "What the heck, let's go." I smiled and he led the way. We walked to the edge of camp and I looked up at the looming greenery. I could hear shrieks and snarls of the monsters Thalia had told me about and tried to keep my cool.

Nico was the first to step in and I soon after him. Let me tell you, the outside of the forest is way creepier than the inside. I mean, when I walked in there was a mysterious air about it but all in all it was just really cool.

Everything was a vivid green and there were animals, nymphs, and monsters everywhere. Everything was kind of moist, like it had just drizzled. There was moss growing on rocks and trees and every once and a while I would see a stream bubbling through the vines. Other than the possibility that a monster would attack you, it was paradise for me.

Nico led me to a small opening with tall meadow grass and wild flowers sprouting up everywhere. There was a stream cutting through it. Somewhere in the middle of the stream it split up and reconnected around a door sized dirt platform that stood about 3 feet above everything else.

I looked around in amazement. "I used to come here a lot to practice." Nico said. I looked back at him and smiled, "Practiced what? Now thinking of it, I don't know who your godly parent is." Nico grimaced, "It's probably better that you don't know." I crossed my arms, "Oh, come on! We've saved each other's lives, been stuck in the same car together for countless hours, and know each other's life stories. I think I deserve to know your godly parent."

Nico frowned and nodded as if he hadn't thought about all we'd been through in the past week. He sighed, "I'm the son of Hades." I spaced out. Hades was in my dream along with Aphrodite. Oh no, that wasn't good. I tried to remember every single thing that had taken place and suddenly I remembered the figure I had seen there. Was that Nico?

I shrugged off my questions and jumped up onto the dirt platform in the middle of the stream. I cleared my throat, "What kinds of stuff to children of Hades do?" Nico smiled, "Raising the dead, talking to ghosts, shadow travel, um, killing people. The list could go on." I laughed, "Oh, that's not fair! You can raise the dead and I'm stuck with controlling minds?" We both laughed.

Nico rubbed his hurt shoulder, "So, I want you to try and tell me what I'm thinking of. That should be the simplest thing to do out of everything." I sighed a little and nodded. "Okay, think of something."

I thought really hard and focused on Nico. I expanded my train of though and closed my eyes. I was shocked to see that in my mind I still saw everything around me. Every bump, tree, plant, rock, and mound of dirt look glowing white in my mind in blackness. I could see myself glowing red and Nico glowing blue. I saw rings of red expanding out and from my head. I thought harder and watched as another ring added on.

I kept thinking hard until the rings touched Nico and he started glowing red too. I saw Nico smile and say, "I don't know what you're doing but it's working!" I grunted and the ring connecting to Nico faded out. I growled and said, "Shut up! I'm thinking!" Nico sighed and I thought again until the red ring was restored and Nico was glowing red once again.

I heard static in my ears and thought harder until I could barely make out in the noise, _"Hello, Jay." _I thought extremely hard until my brain was on the brink of bursting and thought back, _"Hello, Nico." _Nico jumped and my concentration snapped. Nico turned blue again and the only red in the whole setting was me. I opened my eyes and saw Nico in front of me.

He was looking at me with an approving smile. I smiled back and felt cold sweat running down the back of my neck. I looked at my Mickey Mouse watch and saw that it was 12:04 am. I sighed and sat on the ground.

The back of my neck was on fire and I felt exhausted. Nico sat next to me, "That was amazing! I didn't think you'd get it on your first try!" I groaned and Nico frowned, "Are you okay?" I lay flat on the ground, "I'm tired and hungry and thirsty." Nico laughed, "Yeah, because you're beginning you'll drain easily. You'll get better at controlling your power soon.

I sighed and Nico patted me on the shoulder, "Tell me when you want to try again." I nodded and stretched. The rest of the night we had mind conversations and each time I got a little bit better. At the end we sat half asleep.

Nico had shown me some of his necromancy skills and summoned an undead warrior. His name was George and he liked spaghetti. We laughed back and forth about the conversations we had.

Everything was fun and games until I realized how strange my life had become.

Just a week ago I was worrying about passing my classes and waking up on time and now I was talking about mind control and necromancy like it was completely normal.

I looked next to me and jumped a little when I saw that Nico was staring at me. I hadn't noticed him before. Nico was searching my face for an answer for why I was acting all depressed. I sniffed and laughed a little, "It's just, I feel so different. I remember wondering if I'd get in trouble with Ms. Howard and now I'm wondering if I'm going to get struck from the sky by Zeus. My life has become so crazy and mixed up. Just two days ago I was attacked by a demon lady; I have a huge gash in my back that makes it painful to move. The closest I'd come to injured back at Alter Wood was getting a paper cut or falling off the playground equipment."

I smiled, "I remember not going to the dance with anyone and slow dancing with Thalia. Now Thalia's telling me to watch out for hellhounds and don't set the cabins on fire." I sighed, "A week ago I would've been wondering if I'll ever get a boyfriend, now I'm wondering if I'll get attacked by a monster. I feel so much older than I was just 4 days ago. Maybe that's part of being 14. Maybe that's part of being a demigod. Maybe that's part of having mixed up feelings. Maybe it's part of puberty. I don't know. All I do know is that I have to figure this out."

Nico nodded, "It is crazy being a demigod. You never really can expect what's going to happen." I looked up at the sky and watched as the clouds moved away from the moon. The clearing got a lot brighter now that the moon was shining down on it.

Nico touched my shoulder sympathetically, "It's going to be alright." I smiled and gazed at the moon, "I hope so."

"_You look beautiful." _I looked at Nico, "What?" I asked. He shook his head, "I didn't say anything." I shrugged and looked at the sky again. _"Why am I such a coward?" _I looked at Nico again with a raised eyebrow, "You aren't." He glanced at me weirdly, "I'm not what?" I looked at the ground in confusion, "Didn't you say something?" He shook his head, "No."

I sighed and focused my attention on the forest. _"I wonder if she'd . . . No, she said she'd never had one before. Why would she pick me?" _I grumbled, "Seriously! Are you saying anything?" Nico raised his eyebrows, "I think you're tired. Let's get back to camp; I can get you something to eat."

I gazed at him suspiciously but ended up agreeing. I don't know what just happened but I was sure that Nico said something. _Or had I read his . . .? _Never mind. I didn't want to think about that.

We made it to camp and Nico got me a bag of potato chips and some water. "You should go back to the infirmary." I nodded and stepped towards the door. I stopped before stepping out. I looked at Nico as he untied his shoes.

I sighed, "You really aren't a coward." Nico looked up in surprise and alarm, "How did you . . .?" He started but I was already out of the door and heading towards the infirmary.

I frowned as I realized that what I just said would probably cause a whole lot of trouble later. I shrugged and smiled a little. Oh well, I've always been a trouble maker.

**(A/N: Okay, I love that a lot of people have replied but I'm not getting enough OC's. So far 3 out of 4 people say it should be a guy. I need some OC's/characters from the actual books. If it IS a character from the actual books, I'll just change their age so it matches 'kay? Thanks!**

**P.S. This is the longest chapter I've written so far. It's almost 2,000 words on Word Document and 3 pages! XD)**


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The answer is Rebecca Perry.

I woke up the next morning in the infirmary bed and was surprised to see that it wasn't Thalia sitting in the seat next to me. I sat up and looked at the bedside table to see a half cup of what Thalia had called amnesia . . . or was it ambrosia?

My dose had been lowered, much to my discontent. I mean who doesn't like coffee? Okay, I guess there are some people that don't like coffee but for the sake of the rhetorical question I'm going to pretend that there aren't.

I sipped from the Sippy cup and thoughtfully gazed around the room. Everything was perfectly normal except for the girl that was standing right next to me holding a thermometer. Now, since you're reading this instead of living it, it doesn't seem scary. But just imagine lying in your bed and looking right next to you to see a girl holding a medical instrument. Now that you know how frightening it would be you can respect my reaction of shrieking and throwing my Sippy cup at her.

She caught the cup and plugged her ears. She yelled over my screeching, "Calm down!" Despite her appearance in my life I calmed down and shut up. She said more soothingly, "Calm down." I felt my heart beat going down. I protested in my mind, _I thought I had the mind control powers! _

I narrowed my eyes, "How'd you do that?" She shrugged, "Daughter of Apollo. I have healing magic." I nodded in understanding and she set the Sippy cup down next to me. She put the thermometer down and smiled, "Hi, I'm Rebecca Perry." She said brightly. I smiled back and sipped at the ambrosia, "I'm Jay Pouli."

The girl picked up the thermometer and proceeded to stick it in my mouth. I mumbled incoherent words of protest but she just smiled and sat where Thalia would've sat next to my bed.

Actually taking her in, she was really pretty. She was a skinny girl about my height and seemed about the same age. She had long brown hair that looked like Cherry Coca-Cola in the sunlight. Her eyes were wide and shone fiercely with an astonishing blue. She had pale skin that didn't seem to fit on a daughter of Apollo but made her brown hair even more defined. She had seemed caring and sweet and she probably was, but I could just tell by the shine in her eyes that she had a sharp retort for about anything I could say. In other words, she was my kind of girl.

I looked at her with almost grudging respect and she smirked. She glanced at the thermometer and took it out of my mouth. She furrowed her eyebrows but then looked up at me with a smile on her face, "No infection! You should be able to leave by the end of the week."

Feeling like I was forgetting something I asked, "Where's Thalia?" Rebecca bit her lip,  
"Thalia Grace? She left about 2 hours ago with the Hunters." I sunk down into the covers. Thalia had said she was part of this group called the Hunters of Artemis. She said they were immortal and travelled the world fighting monsters as long as they stayed eternal maidens. She had said she would be leaving to join them again any day now and that her work recruiting me was done.

I looked down at my cup and thought about the fact that Thalia was my only friend in camp other than Nico and last night I had pretty much screwed things up with my farewell.

Rebecca smiled at me sympathetically, "Are you okay?" I shrugged and sipped up the last bit of ambrosia. Rebecca sat next to me on the bed, "What's wrong. Not to creep you out or anything but you look like you regret something."

I bit my lip, "Well, apparently I'm this super powerful daughter of Mnemosyne and I can read minds if I try really hard. . ." I ended up telling her about how I got here and the demon lady and about how I had been stuck here and about last night practicing and then me reading Nico's mind and everything. By the end my face was red and I was on the verge of tears. Just now I realized how suckish my last few days had been. Adding on that Thalia's gone.

Rebecca wrapped me up in a hug and rubbed my back soothingly as she rocked me back in forth. I cursed myself for being so vulnerable but I could tell that Rebecca didn't mind. I stumbled over my words, "I-I'm sorry." Rebecca shook her head, "No, it's perfectly fine to break down sometimes. In fact it's healthy."

After a few moments of silence and Rebecca still wrapping her arms around me Rebecca whispered, "Come with me. I know where a super cool stash of junk food is." I looked up at her with hope in my eyes and she smiled.

Right then and there, with unspoken connection Rebecca Perry became my best friend. She led me to the dining pavilion and led me to the back where Rebecca spoke with a dryad who served at meal times. She led us to the kitchen where the food was cooked. Rebecca showed me where the freezer was and carried out a tub of chocolate ice-cream that seemed too big for her to lift.

The dryad, who I had found was named Heather, helped us put double scoops on waffle cones. We said our thanks and left the kitchen. Rebecca led me to the beach where we watched her siblings play volleyball.

I started eating at my second scoop whereas Rebecca was already chewing at the cone, "Dang, you've got quite the appetite!" Rebecca smiled, "So I've been told." I could tell Rebecca wanted to ask me something even after only knowing her for a day. I raised an eyebrow, "Spill the beans." She blushed, "Did you really go to the forest with Nico last night?"

I nodded, "Yeah, why? I should be going again with him tonight." Rebecca looked at me with her mouth open, "You're going to catch flies." I stated. She shut her mouth and dramatically fell onto the sandy floor, "OMIGOSH! Nico is so hot!" She blushed as she said it and looked around nervously as if someone had heard her, "Repeat that to _no one._"

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?" She nodded, "Yep, all of my older sisters talk about him all the time! We've got some competition ahead of us." I chuckled, "We?" She smiled knowingly while I gazed blankly at her. I licked at my ice-cream when I realized it was probably melting. She laughed, "Don't even _try _to pretend!" I sighed, "Pretend what?" She laughed amused, "Oh, Jay. Young Grasshopper, you have so much to learn."

I rolled my eyes, "If you like him so much you can come tonight." Rebecca looked at me with seriousness in her eyes, "You're serious right? If you aren't that's not even funny." I chuckled, "No, I'm serious. You can come if you want to." Rebecca punched me playfully, "Awesome! But you are NOT letting me say something stupid. Read my mind and tell me to not say it ahead of time." I finished my ice-cream, "I'll do my best, Master Rebecca."

She smiled at the name and I pulled her up out of the sand, "Don't get too big headed or else your tiny body won't be able to handle it!" She raised her eyebrows, "If I'm so skinny then how can I do this?" She pushed me over onto the ground and I laughed.

I tried to ignore how similar of a conversation I'd had with Thalia the day before my birthday. I almost started pouting again until I realized that I had another best friend. She was standing right above me with a winning shine in her gaze.

Rebecca Perry, thank the gods for you!

**(A/N: I'd like to say thanks to FoxBracken for giving me Rebecca as an OC! I still need some guy OCs though or else no more chapters because I need to make a triangle. It's all up to you. I put this extremely hard task of pressing the review button and getting creative in your hands (note sarcasm and respect it) Thank you FoxBracken and thank you UNIVERSE!)**


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

NICO POV

The answer is embarrassing conclusions.

I watched in shock as Jay stepped out of the door with a slight frown on her face. Crap, had she read my mind? I buried my face in my hands and lay down on the bed. If she had been reading my mind in the past half hour without me knowing she would've learned a lot of embarrassing secrets. Including my dream of having a pet unicorn named Ostrich! Forget I said that.

I groaned a long, needed groan. I closed my eyes and made a decision. My decision was to contact Bianca. I hadn't spoken to her since I'd gone with Percy and Annabeth to get Thalia and Jay. I got up and went to the spot in my cabin used just for ghost summoning purposes. I said a chant and poured root beer into a pit of dirt. You know the usual.

After anxiously waiting for a few seconds, Bianca appeared. She smiled, "Hey, Nico! I've missed you!" Despite my worried mood I couldn't help but smile when I saw Bianca's face.

She changed and became a little more solid so she could step out of the pit. She looked like one of those light blue holograms in Star Wars but unfortunately she didn't posses a light saber, trust me, I asked.

She tilted her head in question, "How was your mission? Did you find Thalia and the girl?" I nodded, "Yes, everything went as you asked." You want to know a fun fact? Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth don't know but it was Bianca who had said to retrieve Jay in the first place.

"Why did you want to bring Jay here?" Bianca smiled a little, "Jay? Is that her name?" I nodded and Bianca twiddled her ghostly fingers, "I-I'm not really supposed to say." I raised my eyebrows, "Oh?" Bianca sighed, "It wasn't completely _my _idea to bring the girl here."

This being news to me I jumped right onto the subject, "Whose idea was it?" Bianca bit her lip, "I really am not supposed to tell anyone." I frowned, "Come on, Bianca! I'm your brother, we shouldn't keep secrets!" Bianca dropped her shoulders wearily and I instantly felt guilty.

"What's wrong?" I asked gently. Bianca shook her head, "Things with father in the Underworld aren't good." I furrowed my eyebrows. Hades hadn't told me anything about any problems, "Like what?" Bianca sighed, "You could say it is monster breeding season in Tartarus." I made a face and Bianca continued, "Other than that Persephone and him are at it again. I swear I could hear them from the lobby." I smiled a little.

I sighed, "So tell me who sent us to go get Jay?" Bianca shrugged, "Father, of course." He said something about an all important destiny yada, yada." I raised my eyebrows and she shook her head, "It's more than you could handle, Nico. Plus, I think you have something to do with it." I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off, "Forget I said anything!" I sighed and slumped into my bed. I looked up at Bianca's ghostly figure, "Is there going to be a prophecy?" Bianca shrugged, "I don't know. All I do know is that Jay might be in trouble with Zeus. From what I can tell he thinks she's more powerful than him." I snorted, "That's Zeus for ya. But, is Jay going to be okay?"

Bianca raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know?" I bit my lip, "I don't know, it's just uh, we don't want any campers . . . ah forget it! I want to know if she'll be alright. Tell me." Bianca smirked a little, "She should be as far as I know. But then again I'm not sure if I have reliable information." My shoulders slumped.

Bianca smiled at me, "Do you like Jay?" I tensed up and had a protest in my mouth when Bianca asked more firmly, "Do you like Jay?" I shrugged, "She's a good friend. I mean . . ." Bianca cut me off once again, "Do you – Nico di Angelo, son of Hades and Maria di Angelo, sister of me, and warrior of Olympus – like Jay?" I turned deep red as the embarrassing conclusion set in the air.

There was silence for 30 seconds until finally Bianca started laughing. I glared at her but she brushed it aside with a wave of her hand, "Oh, Nico, and to think that you used to be a little 9 year old playing with Mythomagic cards!" I rolled my eyes and she smiled amused, "Did I make big, bad Nico embarrassed?" She asked in baby talk.

I groaned, "You know what? I gotta go to sleep! Goodnight!" Bianca laughed, "Oh, come on, Nico!" I sighed and tucked into the covers of my bed. Bianca receded to the dirt pit and sighed, "Goodnight, Nico." She whispered, "I love you." I sighed, "I love you too. Now go away before I regret summoning you!" Bianca smiled and laughed childishly. With one last giggle she faded away from the room just as she had from me 5 years ago.

I sighed quietly and closed my eyes, hoping for some sleep. Once I did I felt myself being pulled forward and backwards as if I were a rope in a game of tug-of-war. I smelled an overbearing scent of designer perfume and saw wisps of black shadow coming from either side of me. The tugging stopped but soon I heard two voices shouting at me.

A woman called out, "Follow your heart!" A man said, "Don't listen to her! She'll just . . .!" The woman slashed back, "It's your destiny!" The man snarled, "Never! Don't do it!" The woman spoke louder and the perfume grew stronger, almost engulfing the shadows, "It's the only way!" There was a loud crash that almost broke my eardrums and the deep growling voice of the man echoed in my ears, "NO!" The shadows took over everything and the sound of a little girl laughing overpowered everything.

The blackness turned to blurry blue and green and suddenly I saw a landscape. There was a hill with bright green grass and a clear blue sky. The sun was shining and birds flew overhead. I heard laughing again and saw on the hill sat a family.

There was a man with shaggy brown hair and small stubble. He laughed and held hands with a beautiful woman. She had long, wavy blond hair and bright green eyes. Around them two kids danced. There was a short, sticky boy with the man's brown hair and the woman's green eyes he laughed as his sister did a cartwheel. The girl had long auburn hair that was in pigtails. She had wide green eyes and was smiling so big I swear it was about to break off her face. She was short but slender and kept doing flips and tricks to make the little boy laugh.

The girl looked slightly familiar. Before I could begin to guess who she was she did a cartwheel into me and we tumbled halfway down the hill. I heard the man running down the hill calling out, "Come on, Birdie, you have to watch out for people!" He caught up to us and smiled apologetically at me, "I'm so sorry." I shrugged, "It's alright."

The man smiled one last time and held the girl by her hand. They started walking back up the hill but the girl turned back to look at me. She gazed at me curiously from her wide eyes, "Do I know you?"

As she finished the sentence with "you" it changed. The sweet, innocent voice turned more mysterious, older, and seemed a little sad without meaning to. As the "you" changed a sudden but familiar sentence was said. It vibrated and seemed to have whispering layers beneath it but I could clearly hear, "You really aren't a coward."

The scene shifted and I was back in my cabin. Jay was looking back at me and I recognized her being the little girl. She frowned a little and left the cabin. Suddenly the angry man's voice was heard again in a loud, "NO!"

I snapped into reality and looked around the sunlit cabin. I sighed and put a pillow over my head. I mumbled, "Whatever happened to the Mythomagic days?"


	16. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers! I've decided that I am going to reward you with this long chapter for everyone who has reviewed/favorited/or alerted me or my story! This chapter reveals some things that you might not've known and some things you probably knew were going to happen. But remember, it may be predictable now, but just wait until later. Only the bravest fan fictioners will make it to the end! Cookies and ice-cream for everyone who HAS reviewed/favorited/or alerted if you haven't I don't care you still deserve treats! :) **

** EHLTB,**

** AnonymousMidget99**

Chapter 14

The answer is a question and a conversation with a goddess.

The moon was high in the sky as I exited the infirmary and headed for outside the Apollo cabin. There I would meet Rebecca and we'd head to Hades cabin. The rest of the day I hadn't seen Nico so I sort of assumed he wouldn't mind her coming.

Once I found Rebecca practically asleep outside her cabin we left for cabin 13. I quietly knocked on the door and heard Nico's voice say, "Come in." We walked in to find that Nico was already ready in jeans, converse, and an aviator's jacket over a plain black t-shirt.

I heard Rebecca open her mouth but I nudged her and she closed it, punching me gratefully. I rubbed my eyes, "I brought my friend, Rebecca. I hope you don't mind." He shook his head and Rebecca opened her mouth again to say something earning a soft kick from me.

We headed out while I laughed at Rebecca's shivering form. She glared at me but I shrugged, "I wasn't the one who wore a skirt and a tank top." She sighed and goose bumps crawled up her arms. I leaned into her and she smiled appreciatively for the warmth.

Nico was in the front like last time and was leading us to the clearing. I glanced at Nico every once and a while with confusion of how he was reacting to what I said last night. He caught onto my gaze and I looked away rather abashed.

Something flashed in Rebecca's eyes and I raised an eyebrow but she looked away. When we made it to the meadow it was already 11:30 pm according to Nico. I stood up on the dirt square like last time and watched as Rebecca joined me. I sighed, "Okay, Nico, let me read your mind."

Nico smiled nervously, "H-how about you do it to Rebecca. I want to examine exactly what happens when you do it." I raised an eyebrow but nodded, _somebody doesn't want their mind read. _I thought. I turned to Rebecca and she flashed me a toothy grin. I closed my eyes and focused as I was pulled back into my black and white mind reading land.

I saw myself standing in red with Nico and Rebecca glowing blue. I reached out my mind towards Rebecca and was immediately taken aback at how loud her thoughts were. I could clearly hear in my mind with barely a struggle, _"This is so exciting. Can Jay hear me? What if she finds out something embarrassing? If you're there, please stay away from the embarrassing things!" _I smiled inwardly but replied back, _"Don't worry! I won't do anything too bad." _

Hearing Rebecca gasp in shock I smiled. Suddenly I realized that Nico was gone. I surveyed mind control world and suddenly jumped when he appeared in a glowing form behind me. I exclaimed with my eyes still closed, "By the beard of Zeus!" and almost tripped over the edge. Nico caught me before I broke my face, thankfully. I don't know where I'd be without a face.

My eyes still closed as I tried to keep the connection I saw as the edges around my mind control world turned green. I watched Rebecca with my eyes closed (if that makes any sense) and saw that she was turning a sea foam green color. I snapped open my eyes and saw Rebecca smiling and laughing at my clumsiness. I heard a sentence in my mind, _"Boy stealer." _I looked up to see Rebecca but she was still laughing.

I got up and turned to face Nico but saw a flash of emotion in her eyes as I did. Nico smiled, "Sorry, about that." I shook my head with an unsure smile, "Perfectly fine." I was about to turn away when Nico suddenly asked, "By the beard of Zeus?" I smiled widely and he smiled back.

I turned back to Rebecca and she smiled, "Okay, now it's Nico's turn! No offense, Jay, but I don't exactly feel comfortable having an ADHD monkey probing my mind." I laughed, "Yeah, okay. Nico, open your mind." He laughed a little nervously but stood a few feet in front of me and waited.

I flashed him a smiled and closed my eyes seeing my mind control world once again. I should really figure out a name for that. Mind control world just doesn't roll of the tongue as easy as Mt. Olympus or Bikini Bottom. I thought and expanded my mind rings as I had started calling them towards Nico.

Only a small bit of static was heard and his voice popped into my mind, _"Rebecca's leaving." _

I opened my eyes to see Rebecca near the edge of the clearing, "Rebecca, where are you going?" She looked startled to see that I had noticed her. She flashed me a nervous smile, "Um, I'm just really tired. I-I think I'm going to go back to my cabin." I realized that her face was reddening a little and her eyes were pink. I jogged towards her and whispered so Nico wouldn't hear, "Are you crying?" I asked.

She frowned and shook her head, "No, of course not. I'm a tough girl I know how to deal with myself." I opened my mouth to say something but she was already walking off into the woods. _What went wrong? _I thought.

Suddenly I heard Rebecca's voice again, "I thought you said you didn't like him." I looked up at her in confusion, "What?" Rebecca shook her head, "I didn't mean to say that. It just slipped out, I swear." She bit her lip and then ran into the forest, "Don't follow me!" She called behind her.

I walked back to the clearing, reluctantly following Rebecca's wish. I saw that Nico was starting to head into the forest too. I called out, "Are we leaving?" Nico looked up, "Uh, yeah." I watched him leave, thinking, _what went wrong?_

I sighed and started walking back to the infirmary. According to Rebecca tomorrow was my last day. I didn't know exactly where I would go after the infirmary. It's not like they had a cabin for children of Mnemosyne, the name is too long to put on a sign. Rebecca had mentioned something about Hermes cabin and I didn't know squat about it so I was hoping she'd introduce me tomorrow.

When I found myself outside of the forest I watched as the door to Apollo cabin shut. I looked over to see that Nico was walking towards his cabin. I would have to walk all the way to the Big House but I just watched the scene in front of me for a while.

Nico called out quietly, "Goodnight." I smiled mostly to myself but answered, "Goodnight." He walked into his cabin and shut the door. I sighed quietly and looked down at the ground as I walked to the Big House.

When I arrived I sat on the porch, thinking about what Rebecca had said. I closed my eyes and wondered why Rebecca left. I found myself dozing off and into sleep. I wanted to get up but the door was _so far away. _

In my dream I heard a woman laughing and my mind opened up to a big room with racks of clothes covering almost every square inch of the floor. As the familiar scent of designer perfume reached my nose I knew that I would be having a conversation with the goddess of love. And from the look on her face I saw as I turned around, it would be a very uncomfortable one for me.

She sighed and touched a designer shirt I bugged my eyes as suddenly she was wearing it and had jeans and designer shoes to match with it. Oh well, I guess being a goddess has its perks. I did a curtsey, trying my best in faded jeans and an old Paramore t-shirt that couldn't hold a candle to the cheapest article of clothing in here. I smiled politely although I wasn't feeling very polite after the confusing night, "Lady Aphrodite." I said in greeting.

She waved her hand and laughed, "Darling, I've come into contact with you twice this week . . ." Before she could continue I asked, "Twice?" She sighed, "Yes, one in Alethia's Room and once I might have been in your mind for a millisecond but . . ." I raised my eyebrows and she shook her hands around, "Never mind! What I'm trying to say is that I've contacted you twice this week, this is the third time! I think we're past the titles now. Unless you want me going around saying to the Olympians, 'I'm going to go meet Demigod Jay in a dream now.'"

I raised an eyebrow, "Not meaning to be rude but, Aphrodite, you have been the one contacting me." She laughed, "With your romantic skills, you were practically _begging _me to come to you." I sighed, "I don't know what romantic skill I would need when I'm _not in a relationship._"

Aphrodite shrugged, "You will be soon enough . . . with my assistance of course." I sighed, "That's what this is about isn't it? Well, go on. Tell me who I'm supposedly going to be romantically involved with." She rolled her eyes, "Seriously? You don't know?" I shook my head and she muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Has no clue does she?"

My eyebrow was raised as I waited for an answer. She finally looked me in the face, "Well it's that son of Hades of course." I shivered, "_What?_" She sighed, "You really don't have a clue in the world about love do you?" I laughed, "Are you kidding me? My family died when I was 10! Do you really expect me to go out and try to hook up with a guy after something _that _mentally and emotionally scarring?"

Of course Aphrodite didn't listen and pursued the idea of a perfect couple in her mind. She smiled, "Oh come on! You know you like him." I tried objecting but shut up in defeat as a blush rose up in my cheeks and on my nose. She smiled in triumph, "Oh, it seems my Poulangelo has a chance!" I stared at her, "Poulangelo?" The love goddess nodded. I laughed a little, "Oh, please tell me you didn't just clash our names together." I said forcing a smile at the end. She nodded again and I sighed.

She smiled a little, "Let me give you some advice though. That is if you really want to be with him. I blushed harder but looked at her for her tutorial. She touched a dress and it formed on her, looking perfect, although I'm sure it would've sagged in some significant places on me.

She thought for a moment and twirled around me, "Well, you're going to have to look a little more girly, I think." I looked down at my clothes and hair. I obviously knew that I wasn't the prettiest bird in the nest but at least I was a little decent. She took my hand and looked at my fingernails that were chipped and had dirt under them. She shook her head in disapproval.

Moving to my hair she took it all in and said, "It's okay to leave it hanging there but at least brush it." I sighed and let her evaluate the rest of me. She looked at my posture and told me to keep my chin up a little more and to (I blushed when she said this) swing my hips more. I managed to develop a small headache by then and I didn't feel like talking.

She smiled, "Your personality is great but try to be more aware of things. I swear I didn't even visit _Percy _three times a week when Percabeth was struggling. And I've visited Nico twice this week too, plus I told his sister to ask him about it! Oh my Zeus, you two are going to be a handful in both Camp Half-Blood _and _Mt. Olympus!"

I smiled sheepishly and tried to ignore that Aphrodite was still trying to ship this whole idea into reality. She pushed some loose hair behind her ear and shook her head, "Well, the difficult ones are always the best. We all saw how well Helen and Paris ended up . . . and Romeo and Juliet, I mean . . ." The small traces of a smile disappeared off of my face. I looked at Aphrodite in alarm, "But it's not like we're going to start a war or both end up dead in the end, right?" Aphrodite didn't answer, just continued to look through the clothes, only now with a slightly panicked look on her face.

I glared at her, "Right?" She shrugged nervously, "No one really knows how love will turn out. Now, you'll wake up in 30 minutes after I work my magic and go to Hermes cabin. They'll say there's a package for you from someone named Olympia Mountain, aka, me. Open it and do what the letter says. There will be a small pamphlet you can read in your new Hermes cabin space. Now, I have got to go to Olympus or else Zeus will have my head. Take care, Jay, and don't forget what I told you, open your mind, be aware of things. Bye!"

When she left I was sucked into a scene that was all blue and hazy. Soft music played and I felt myself relaxing. I didn't know what Aphrodite was trying to do, but whatever it was I sure as Zeus's finely trimmed beard didn't like it.

**That little review button looks so darn lonely. :( You know what would make it happy? A little pet mouse. A little pet mouse would make it feel better. And a review from you would me feel better. Don't you think that blue buttons and psychomaniacs deserve a little love? Well, anyway ta-ta for now! ~AnonymousMidget99**


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The answer is a gift from Olympia Mountain.

I woke up in the infirmary, which is weird because I fell asleep on the porch. I walked outside and saw Chiron in My Little Pony form. I don't know about you but I think it'd be super cool if he had wings. I looked at the sun and realized with alarm that I had been asleep longer than I thought. The sun was already dipping into the background and a few faint stars were appearing in the dusk. I sighed and walked all the way to the Hermes cabin with my bag on my back.

When I arrived at the freshly built cabin with a caduceus on the top of the door I knocked and was greeted by two boys. I was surprised at first because they looked exactly alike but I noticed a few differences between them. The taller one smiled mischievously, "Hello, I'm Travis and this is my partner in crime, Connor." I smiled and waved, "I'm Jay, daughter of Mnemosyne. I'm supposed to be staying here."

The one named Connor nodded, "Yep, we have a bunk over here for you. Also there's a package from Olympia Mountain?" I smiled, "Yeah, I was expecting that." They let me in while I awkwardly concealed the frown that was plastering itself onto my face. Most of the campers in Hermes cabin were awake but a few of them were still sleeping as their half siblings put whipped cream in their hand and tickled their noses.

I looked at the plain box with a somewhat terrified expression. I sat on the top bunk that Connor had pointed to and looked at the note on the box. It read in swirly, delicate words:

_Dear Jay,_

_Open this box while in the forest. Remember what I told you!_

_Aphr- __ Olympia Mountain_

I sighed and got out of the bunk. I started heading for the forest with discomfort swirling around me in a storm. Yes, maybe (just maybe) I liked Nico, but that didn't mean that the goddess of love had to come to me and tell me that I suck at relationships! I already knew that, thank you very much!

In the end I would undoubtedly go up to Nico and break down. And I wasn't planning that for another year or so! Obviously, I'm not the best at expressing my feelings. Even though I've known him for a week I knew that by the overwhelming feeling to smile and giggle when he was around and the constant but subtle image of him in my mind that I really (might) like him. I just don't know how to deal with situations. And that will be my downfall. I was never meant to be a leader.

I sighed and walked to the only place I really knew of in the forest. I found myself in my little training area. It looked a lot different in the sunset. The grass caught the rays of light and the creek glistened in the sun. I set the box on the rising platform and watched it warily for a few minutes before opening it.

Right as I pulled off the ribbon the box disappeared and I felt slightly different. I raised an eyebrow and nervously looked around. _Now what? _I thought. I thoughtfully tugged on a piece of hair and looked at my black flats.

_Wait a minute. _I bit my tongue to prevent myself from screaming. The box seemed to have disappeared and hurled everything inside it on me. My feet were clad in the before mentioned flats. I was wearing a freaking _evening gown. _It was simple silk and framed my body. It was white with a black ribbon at the waistline.

I looked at my distorted reflection in the stream and saw that my lips were pink and my hair was curled. I growled, still biting my tongue and nearly shrieked in outrage. _Great, _I thought, _now I look like a pretty little Barbie doll. _

I looked around in search of my own clothes and stomped at the ground like a 5 year old when I couldn't find a trace of them. I sat on the ground and looked up in surprise as a small piece of paper fluttered from out of nowhere. I bit my lip and plucked the note from the sky. In the same swirly letters of Aphrodite it read:

_Have fun! 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . ._

I stopped reading the note as rustling was heard from the greenery. I tensed and stood up. A smirk formed on my lips as I thought about running into a monster and completely tearing up her dress.

The smirk dropped as a very familiar, very formal looking boy popped into the scene. I dug my face in my hands, still sitting down, "Oh [insert cuss word of choice here] no!" I said loudly. I could feel Nico's gaze set on me and I shyly looked up at him through the cracks in my fingers.

There he was. Nico was wearing a _tuxedo _(I don't know what Aphrodite was thinking) but still had the same bed head hair that fell into his face. I felt a grudging respect for Aphrodite as I realized what she had planned.

Nico's face held a wide smile and I guessed that my sudden outburst of colorful language had put it there. Wow, aren't I great at this stuff?

I got up and self-consciously brushed off any trace of dirt on the dress. Nico shuffled from foot to foot, unsure what to do. I nervously looked back at the note and saw that more words were placed under the first line.

_He has something to say._

That's great, now what am I supposed to freaking do? I bit my tongue to prevent myself from actually saying that. My gaze flickered to Nico's face and I almost stumbled when I realized he had walked forward closer. I quit biting my tongue and let out a slightly shaky breath, "So, anything you wanna say before I pass out in complete embarrassment?"

He smirked half heartedly and I felt the corners of my lips pulling up into a small smile. He looked at the ground and mumbled something that sounded like, "My fright for bike goo." My ears probably weren't working well because things like that don't make sense. That is unless you have a fear of bike goo. I raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" I asked. He spoke a little louder, this time I could hear, "I might like you."

I pressed my lips together and there was a long, awkward silence. I didn't say anything until I could gather at least an ounce of courage to say what I wanted to say. He sighed, "Never mind." And walked quickly back towards the forest.

Panicking I shouted out, "Wait!" He stopped and I felt surprise as I realized it actually worked. It usually didn't in the movies. I ran up to him and grabbed his elbow. Smiling slightly I said quietly, "I might like you too."

His eyes found mine as he turned around and I felt a furiously red blush creep up from my neck and into my cheeks. His ears turned red and he slipped my arm out of my elbow and grabbed my hand. I grinned and felt every embarrassment slip away.

Yes, I knew I absolutely _sucked _at expressing feelings. Most times I don't even know how I feel about something unless something triggered it. I don't know about you but this was my trigger. And once you have a trigger, sometimes you just have to shoot.

**A/N: **

**Okay, SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE! Good news is that it's summer so I can update way more now! Hope you liked this chapter and really I'M SORRY that I haven't been able to update. I'm not gonna give any excuse cuz really I don't think I have one. But if you want one then . . . uh . . . my dog ate my laptop. Thanks for reading and I love all your reviews! PM me or send me a review with any OCs you might have! Love you all! Have some virtual ice cream! **

**So far chapter 14 is the longest update with a whopping 2,553 words. I FEEL AWESOME! Okay, seriously this time BYE!**


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The answer is forgiveness and a Hermes kid.

Nico and I walked back to camp hand in hand. My face probably looked like a cherry Popsicle when we submerged through the forest looking like we had just come back from prom. We got multiple looks from different cabins. Ares cabin glared in disgust. Aphrodite cabin squealed and giggled when they saw our hands (although most growled in jealousy.) Most of the girls in Apollo cabin looked disappointed.

What really caught my attention though were the individuals that I had learned to know ever since I'd arrived. Annabeth smiled at me. Then she glared at Nico like a mother saying to her child, _"If you break your new toy, you die." _Percy walked out of his cabin, noticed us, and then gave Nico a high five. Rebecca smiled a little then seemed to realize something and looked away.

I frowned slightly at Rebecca's reaction but shook it off when Nico gripped my hand tighter and caught my attention. I looked up at him and shrunk a little when his dark brown – almost black – eyes met mine. He blushed a little more and said, "I'm going to go see if I can change out of this monkey suit. Uh, meet me at dinner?" I smiled and nervously nodded, "Yeah, see you there."

He smiled back and then turned around to head towards his cabin, glancing back at me every few steps. I tugged on a piece of my hair and decided that I needed to do something important. Next stop: Apollo cabin.

* * *

My blush was still fading as I skipped to the Apollo cabin. Yes, I said 'skipped' like a 5 year old – get over it I was happy, okay? I didn't bother knocking on the door and barged straight into the cabin. I found Rebecca immediately as she's probably the only one in the cabin with dark brown hair.

I stomped over to her – somehow pulling off looking dangerous in an evening gown – and grabbed Rebecca by the wrist. I will admit that I am _not _stronger than her but my element of surprise and my adrenaline from holding hands with Nico helped me drag her out of the cabin with only a few looks of confusion.

She struggled until we made it outside and then gave up. I linked my arm through hers and dragged her towards the Lake. Rebecca followed a few inches behind me and sat down right as we made it to the bank of the Lake.

Her eyes betrayed utter confusion as I sat down next to her. I sighed and looked her in the eyes, "What's wrong?" She titled her head, "Wha . . ." She started but I interrupted, "Why are you acting so far away? What did I do?" She looked down and tousled her hand through her long hair.

I raised an eyebrow as she stayed silent, "You do know I can just mind read it out of you." She looked up at me with a frown on her face and then shook it off. She sighed, "It's just –

I _told _you that I liked him!" I started playing with the sand, "What do you mean?" She bit her lip and I raised my eyebrow once more.

"I told you I liked Nico." She said quietly. I straightened and stopped playing with the sand. Guilt suddenly washed over me, "Oh my gods. Oh my flipping gods I am _so _sorry!" She wrung her hands together. I continued as realization dawned on me, "Oh, and then we got to . . . I am so sorry, Rebecca! I totally forgot I had no clue!"

She continued wringing her hands and avoiding my gaze. I held the bridge of my nose in stress. Why had I let this happen? Why had I just hurt my best friend? Why was life so difficult at times? Why did the chicken cross the road? All of them were questions with answers I didn't know.

I sighed, "Do you forgive me? Trust me, I didn't know!" Rebecca bit her lip and then rolled her eyes, "I can't stay mad at you." I grinned, "I swear I won't date guys you like anymore!" Rebecca smiled, "Stupid, that's what best friends are _supposed _to do!" Grinning even wider I leaned my head on her shoulder.

We must've looked pretty odd. Seriously just imagine two adolescents sitting on the bank of a lake, leaning on each other for support. One wearing jeans shorts, a blue shirt, and tennis shoes and the other was wearing a white dress with grass stains on the hem. It was a pretty weird sight but it also screamed in big, bold letters: **FRIENDSHIP.**

I smiled a little and felt Rebecca stiffen next to me, "Crap, I forgot my shoe." I looked at her in confusion, "Excuse me?" She smiled, "I pulled off my shoe half way here in case you were kidnapping me. You know, so my cabin would have a clue on what direction I went in?" Sighing I shook my head and smiled widely, "You are one weird girl." She shrugged, "You're not any better."

A sliver of the sun still shone and cast an orange glow on the water. I breathed in the scent of minerals and fresh water as a rustling was heard behind us. We both looked over our shoulders, almost knocking our heads together.

Out of the shadows came a guy about 5'5 with shaggy, light brown hair that shone hazel in the sunset. His eyes were big and light green with a muscular but not too showy body. He smiled a smile that reached his eyes and made me feel like I knew him. Then I realized I did know him. Or at least I knew _of _him.

He was one of the kids that were still asleep in the Hermes cabin when I got there! Poor Hermes kid, he still had a little bit of whipped cream on his shirt. He smiled and held up a shoe that looked very similar to the one that Rebecca was wearing on her left foot. He stepped towards us, "Is this one of yours?" He asked.

Rebecca just stared with her mouth slightly agape and her body unmoving. I face-palmed and nodded, "Yep, that's hers." Rebecca snapped out of it and smiled big with a pinkish glow spreading in her cheeks.

The Hermes kid handed her the shoe, "Hey, I'm Owen, what are your names?" I snapped under Rebecca's nose again and she jumped, "Oh, um, I'm Rebecca and this is . . .?" She looked at me as if she had totally forgotten my name. I rose up my hands in frustration. Not even looking back at Owen I stated, "I'm Jay."

Out of the corner of m eyes I saw him smile and Rebecca smiled back. A rolling sound suddenly echoed down and around the Lake alerting me of dinner where I would hopefully meet Nico.

Rebecca got up and pulled her shoe on. Owen laughed as she stumbled and crashed into him. She turned red and mouthed, "I feel like flipping Cinderella!" I smiled and helped the both of them up.

"So, what cabin are you from?" Owen asked. Rebecca walked in front of me with Owen and replied, "Apollo." She looked over her shoulder and gave me a look that told me that I would be giving Rebecca all the details of Nico and me. I sighed and walked several feet behind them, giving them enough space to talk.

Every once and a while I would hear them both laugh about something or other but all I could think about was one person that I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with today as I wanted to.

That person was Nico.

**A/N:**

**Hey it's me again! I hope you liked this chapter. I promise I'll do more chapters with Jay and Nico but I just wanted to introduce a new character and have Rebecca and Jay make up because it would SUCK if you were with someone and didn't have a best friend to talk to about it [I'm talking to you Bella Swan] Anyways feel free to PM/review about how you like the story! **

**[I SPY WITH MY HOPEFUL EYE A BUTTON WITH THE WORD "REVIEW" ON IT. send me some reviews you know i love to hear from you all! :)] **


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The answer is complete and total embarrassment.

Once I entered the dining pavilion (sounds fancy) I sat down at what I decided was the Hermes table. This was the first time I'd ever been in the dining pavilion due to my time in the infirmary. There people brought me food, it probably wasn't smart but I didn't question where it had come from.

Raking the entire place with my eyes I finally found Nico sitting alone at a table. His eyes had already found mine and I smiled a very girly smile that I quickly wiped off my face. Instead I replaced the smile for a smirk as I realized that he was still wearing the tux.

My eyes looked around warily for Chiron and when I didn't see him I quickly ran to where Nico sat. Nico took a long sip of whatever filled his cup and then tugged at the sleeve of his fancy outfit. I smiled unconsciously and said, admitting to him, "I have _no _idea how to do this. Not to make myself sound unsteady, but I've never really dated anyone for more than a week, so I don't know exactly how to . . ." The presence of a girl hovering above us made me stop. She looked perfectly fake with a sugar coated smile and an evil death glare hidden in her pink eye shadowed eyes.

After smiling and seeing that she did nothing back made me realize that she wasn't here to make small talk, at least not without trying to use something against me. She looked like she would be good at that – using, that is.

She spoke in a nasal voice that made me think of little Hannah back at Alter Wood, wow, that seemed so long ago. "So, Jean . . ." She started. I smiled tightly, "The name is Jay." The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm Tanya, daughter of Aphrodite." She switched her attention so that it was on Nico, "Hey, hon, you look _great _in that! I was wondering why you were hanging out with _this _girl." I humorlessly laughed and rolled my eyes. _So that's what she wanted, _I thought.

I snapped my fingers under her nose and she looked back at me, "So I want to know why you're wearing that dress. You're, like, drawing attention to yourself." Her eyes silently added, _"That's, like, my job." _

Shrugging I started chewing at a piece of bread, "Your mom gave it to me." I knew it sounded like one of those dirty jokes so I smiled bigger when her jaw dropped. I continued, "No, seriously. Your mom gave it to me so if you think something is wrong with this picture – take it up with your mom because she seems to have started this thing in the first place."

Nico smirked at the expression on Tanya's face and waved goodbye. He started eating at his food again and I laughed to myself as Tanya walked off in a flurry of pink and plastic. We both started eating again and we talked for a little while.

Just when I thought the rest of the night would be normal Tanya came back but this time she had her _posse _with her. Ooh, aren't I scared? Nico was halfway into eating a chicken leg and was holding it in his mouth. I was looking up at Tanya mid-sip and saw that her eyes were swirling vortexes of hate. I put my cup down, actually feeling a bit nervous about why she was back looking like a mass murderer.

She smiled falsely and I set my cup down, "Hello again, Tanya. What brings you back?" Tanya was breathing heavily as if smiling was the most tiring thing in the world, "I don't like the way you were talking to me, Julie." I cleared my throat, "My name is Jay." She ignored what I had said completely and continued, "I think I should tell Chiron that . . ." She didn't finish. Nico interrupted and finished the sentence, "That Jay was informing you on where she had gotten her dress." He then looked at me with a sly smile, "It _was _Aphrodite wasn't it? That's where I assume I got this." He said motioning towards the tuxedo he was wearing.

I stepped in with my smile matching Nico's, "Oh yeah, next time you see your mom tell her that it's _very_ comfortable. But then again she keeps on meeting me and telling me all about how perfect it would be if I were in a relationship so I guess I'll just see her the next time I fall asleep." I said bringing up the fact that her mom was totally supporting the whole thing. Tanya's posse glared at me but I saw a few demigods who were sitting close smile.

Tanya squeaked in frustration, "Ugh!" She exclaimed. Just when I thought she would've walked away I felt cold liquid splash all over me. Realization that she had thrown my drink in my face dawned over me as the cup crashed to the floor. I didn't even have to look around to know that everyone was staring at me. I pressed my lips together and felt ashamed that I had gotten swirled into the world of Teenage Drama.

Tanya smiled in satisfaction and the whole dinner pavilion was silently watching. Tanya brushed back her hair, "Hm! Seems like Jay got a little wet! You're just a low life peasant girl who probably _hides _your pain beneath your sarcastic, clever, and happy-go-_lamely _attitude. I don't even get why _he _likes you!" She said motioning towards Nico. I felt my cheeks turn red and my eyes got tingly as tears threatened to fall.

She kept insulting me, "You're not even pretty! You're just a pathetic piece of trash that nobody wants to pick up!" I felt my body tremble and suddenly my mind went blank. I don't know what came over me other than fury.

I stood up and sent to her through my mind, _"You plastic b****!" _She shrieked in surprise. I took the moment of opportunity and started lightly pushing pressure points in her body. I don't know how I did it but suddenly she was paralyzed. She was motionless on the ground, her eyes staring straight towards the sky.

Nico looked at me with something that could've been awe, confusion, or horror. Everything looked the same to me as I stormed out of the dining pavilion with tears hanging on the edge of my eyelashes.

I don't care if I got in trouble, or how I did any of that. I don't care if nobody ever looks at me again. All I cared about was getting into the cabin and shutting out the rest of the world.

The next time I saw Tanya, I would make sure was _permanently _paralyzed.

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**A/N: Okay, so I might change my account name because I grew and I'm no longer a midget. Therefore I cannot be AnonymousMidget99. Also 1 thing: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I love to know if my story is doing well or not. :) Also I still need some more guy OCs like nooooooooooooowwwwww, everything is getting a little too perfect and I need the OC so I can show the WORLD just how many flaws I plan on giving Jay! sorry jay . . . I can't make the story interesting without that OC so yeah. Thank you for reading, reviewing, PMing, alerting, or favoriting this! :] I feel loved 3. Here are some virtual treats for you! Oh and I made up an emoticon: 8[|c] it's an excited face with a tongue and everything! **

**! Love you guys!**


	20. Chapter 18

**Okay chapter 18 up! :P that's it. I realized I never really write anything up here so I thought I would for a change. Yeah. **

Chapter 18

The answer is breaking down and tearing up.

My eyes snapped open the next morning. I didn't even know I had fallen asleep and shakily got up from my flat position. I felt salty water on my cheeks and when I tried to breathe I inhaled a stuffy nose. One question: do people sleep cry?

After I wiped away any sign that I had cried I looked around the room and was surprised to see a very familiar looking Apollo girl standing in the Hermes cabin talking to Owen. I leaned over the edge of the old bunk bed and it loudly creaked. I winced hoping that nobody heard but ever since yesterday I seemed to be having bad luck.

Rebecca's blue eyes found mine and she looked back at Owen, "Would you excuse me?" She asked in a tone that was more polite than I had ever heard her. I raised an eyebrow and she crawled up and onto the same bunk as me. Her blue eyes gazed into my green eyes like the sky looking to the earth for answers. Apparently she found nothing in my poker face and sighed, as if trying to relax.

"Jay, what happened? Are you okay?" She asked. I noticed that almost everyone in the Hermes cabin was gone. Well, now is as good as any other time. I completely shattered. My brain had been expecting it ever since yesterday so I'd tried to iron myself up. My eyes became red and wet from the spilling tears and I covered my face with a pillow. For the billionth time I remind you: I am an ugly freaking crier.

Ever since the incident with my family I tried to hold stuff in and I tried to be strong. In my own way I was emotionless. Not emotionless like I've never smiled in my life. I was more emotionless like I didn't allow myself to get sad, depressed, or melancholy. Of course I slipped every once and a while but no one had ever pointed me out like that. Even worse it was in front Nico! He probably thinks I'm so pathetic right now. Every time I cried it was either because of pure shock or true pain. I don't think I remember a time that I've cried because my feelings got hurt! I didn't just feel pathetic I _was _pathetic. The Jay I thought I knew didn't cry because some Bubblegum Queen came around and told her what she was.

Truthfully, though, I don't like the truth. The truth leaves situations too vulnerable. I don't like feeling vulnerable. It took me a while to realize that Rebecca's question was hanging in the air. I sniffed into the pillow and shook my head, "I'm not okay. I don't wanna talk about it." But because I was crying and because my head was in a pillow it came out like, _"Ib dot fokey ya down vonka taf abyot ig." _Rebecca seemed to understand though because she laughed and said, "Oh, Jay. You've known me long enough to guess that I won't give up that easily!" I laughed a little but more tears ended up pouring from my eyes.

Oh, gods. If Thalia saw me now she'd smack me upside the head and ignore me for the rest of the day. I straightened and wiped my eyes, still trembling. "I can't get over it because she's right! I am pathetic! I _do _hide my pain behind my attitude! But it's only because if I didn't I would be like Th-this every s-single d-day!" I started trembling at the end so much that it affected my speech. Rebecca scooted closer to me and rubbed my back, "You are _not _pathetic. You broke her wrist for Apollo's sake!"

My confused gaze found her reassuring one, "What?" Rebecca started laughing, "You broke Tanya's wrist. She went to the infirmary and got a big ugly cast on her arm." I smiled a little and Rebecca became serious again, "It is perfectly fine to cry every once and a while." She smiled slyly and said, "In fact it's healthy." I couldn't help but grin hugely as she quoted what she had said the first time we had met.

Rebecca gave me a bear hug, "Come with me. I know where a super cool stash of junk food is." I grinned wider as she kept going with the dialogue of when we had first met. I recited in a narrative voice, "Right then and there, with unspoken connection Rebecca Perry became my best friend." Rebecca smiled, "And Jay Pouli became mine." She grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen once again where Heather helped us with the ice cream. Except this time when we walked to the beach Rebecca talked about Owen not Nico and I didn't question Nico's hotness.

Although I did question my stability as I saw Nico's unmistakable silhouette walk across the beach. I hoped to the gods that he wouldn't see me but as I said before: ever since yesterday I seemed to be having bad luck. He saw me instantly and came rushing over. Wow, am I that noticeable? I'm going to have to work on my camouflage.

"Jay, are you okay? I haven't seen you since yesterday! You broke her freaking wrist and I feel like I need to say something." He said with words flooding out and meshing together making me confused. I took a deep breath and said, "Huh?" Nico rolled his eyes and sat across from me, "Are you okay?" I nodded, "Yeah, are you?" He smiled, "So, you are publicly insulted, you physically hurt someone, you've avoided everyone all day, and the first thing you wonder is if I'm okay? I smiled in a ridiculously happy way, "What can I say? I'm pretty awesome."

**(YOU GUYS ARE SO LUCKY! I WAS GONNA END IT HERE!)**

Rebecca and Nico laughed and I joined in. I still couldn't help but feel as if someone had stabbed me right in the story. That is to say, I felt like someone had found out everything about me just by opening a book. First thing I wanna work on next time Nico and I are practicing in the clearing: secrets. I need to work on keeping them.

We all sat on the beach and I realized that I had my best friend and my . . . uh . . . person-I-was-currently-uh-holding-hands-with-and-stuff-friend. It was great to know that unlike those teenage girl drama movies I could balance both my friends and my person-I-was-currently-holding-hands-with-and-stuff-friend (not that I watch movies like that.)

Everything was fine. We laughed about Tanya and I smiled happily when Nico stated that he hated Tanya and that she was a _[word blocked for the innocence of younger readers.] _It was all fun and games until I noticed someone. Someone I'll not forget. **(A/N: Ha, I went all "Brave: the movie" on you. Now reread that sentence in a Scottish accent.)**

She was standing on the edge of the beach laughing with Percy and Annabeth. I swear my blood turned to ice. Because once the girl stared over at me I was sure of whom she was. I didn't know her name and I didn't know why she was here. What I did know is that she was the exact same girl who had interrupted my Singing Ed class and frozen all of my former classmates.

I almost screamed.

* * *

**(A/N: How'd you like it? Have a brownie! :) okay so . . .**

**1 review I update on July 8****th**

**2 reviews I update on July 6****th**

**3 reviews I update on July 2****nd ****or 3****rd**

**4 reviews I update on July 1****st**

**5 reviews I update Saturday**

**6 or more I update tomorrow **

**REVIEW!)**


	21. Chapter 19

**Okay, **_**Helios Spirit**_** pointed out to me that she/he thought that Jay had already met Rachel. Well, if you're confused then here is the explanation. Jay already met Rachel but didn't know who she was, Thalia mentioned something about Rachel's name but Jay didn't know what she meant. So Jay hasn't met Rachel while knowing her name yet, she still thinks that she's just a creepy figment of her imagination and she hasn't really remembered about Rachel until now. Okay I think that's it. Thank you **_**Helios Spirit **_**for pointing that out. If any of you find any other mistakes TELL ME. :) **

Chapter 19

The answer is dirt and danger.

It really is a small world after all, isn't it? Nico seemed to notice that something was up so he grabbed my hand and I was shocked back into reality. I noticed his hand on mine and couldn't help but blush. Rebecca frowned, "What's up?" I opened my mouth and said in one breath, "It's-that-creepy-girl-from-my-singing-class-that-froze-all-my-classmates-and-now-she's-here-to-haunt-me-for-life." Rebecca and Nico stared at me in complete confusion. Rebecca asked in a hushed tone, "Are you okay?" While Nico just stared and said, "Wha . . .?"

I let out a sigh, "That girl," I said pointing to her, "I've seen her before. She walked into my Singing Ed classroom when I was still at Alter Wood and told me some . . . things." Nico looked over at the girl and raised an eyebrow, "You mean Rachel? Rachel found you in your school and told you something?" I frowned when he said her name, "Rachel's her name? Well, then yeah. Rachel came to my school and said stuff. She made the entire classroom freeze except for me. It was . . . weird."

Rebecca nodded and then looked me in the eyes, "Are you sure it was Rachel? Because she's the Oracle and if she came to you it probably wasn't for a good reason." I nodded, completely sure of myself, "Yep, that's her."

The girl, Rachel, looked back at me again and then said something to Percy and Annabeth that I didn't catch. Once she was done she started walking over to me with Percy and Annabeth following.

One part of my mind told me to run away and hope she didn't find me. The other part of my brain said this situation was inevitable. So of course I stayed – although I'm not sure if that would be a good or bad idea. Once the three of them reached us Annabeth and Percy sat down comfortably right next to Nico while Rachel sat in an awkward cross legged position. I waved slightly and smiled unsurely. She responded with a bright grin.

"Hello, Jay. I haven't seen you in a little while. How are you adjusting to Camp HB?" I opened my mouth and quietly said, "Hi, I'm doing fine." I said, cutting off the sentence so it would be harder for her to open a conversation.

She smiled politely, "So, um . . ." I decided I don't like awkwardness. Who does? It's only funny when it happens to someone else. So I mentally rolled my eyes and broke the ice, "I can just feel the awkwardness." I said while waving my hand through the air, as if trying to catch something. Rachel smiled brightly and said, "So I heard you guys are dating." She pointed to both Nico and I. We both instantly turned red and Rachel laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."

Percy laughed at Nico's reaction while Annabeth smiled. Rebecca was furrowing her eyebrows and looking at Rachel, "So you, like, really spit out prophecies? Like just one minute you're like "Ooh it's an alpaca!" and the next minute you're all like "Creepy mind stuff – KA-POW!" Rachel laughed, "That's one way you could put it. Take now as an example. I could be talking about something random – yes like alpacas – and then suddenly I could be going all "Oracle Powers" on you all and start chanting random prophecies."

Rebecca nodded while Annabeth laughed at Percy who was trying to do an impression of Rachel having a prophecy. He looked like a drowning chicken – not that I know what that looks like.

A sentence that had been nagging at the back of my mind found its way to my mouth, "So, it _was _you that froze all of my classmates then. Does that mean you can freeze people?" Rachel shook her head, "_I _can't freeze people but Zeus manipulated the Mist. Your classmates weren't really frozen – they were more like in another dimension for a few seconds. But they totally forgot about it – or at least the Mist was strong enough to make them forget about it."

I shook my head in confusion, "What is this "Mist" everyone keeps talking about? Thalia said she would explain it to me but she never got to it." Annabeth answered, "The Mist is something that gods – and sometimes demigods – can use. Mortals typically don't know about the whole Greek-Gods-still-alive thing so when weird things happen like a Cyclops attacking New York mortals see something different. They could see something like a terrorist attack – pretty much anything but the truth."

My eyes squinted in concentration, "So the Mist covers anything involving the Greek world so to keep mortals from knowing about us." Annabeth nodded and Nico smiled. Suddenly Rachel yawned, "Well," she said, "I'm going to sleep." I raised an eyebrow, "You do know that it's like 11am, right?" Rachel shrugged, "Hmm, I've just been feeling tired lately." I frowned but nodded. She walked off and Rebecca said bluntly, "I'm gonna go stalk Owen." I smiled and she nodded with purpose.

I was left with Nico, Percy, and Annabeth on the beach. Percy was the first to make things awkward, "So, you guys are dating?" A smirk pulled on his face. Annabeth smiled at me, asking me to explain stuff. Too bad for her I wasn't in the mood for explaining. Apparently neither was Nico because he frowned at Percy and pushed him into the dirt. Annabeth, Nico, and I laughed as he bobbed back up with dusty dirt on his face. Percy narrowed his eyes and threw a handful of loose dirt at Nico's face. I laughed at him and said, "You look like you've been cleaning chimneys!"

Nico raised an inquiring eyebrow, "Oh and you've cleaned enough chimneys to know what a chimney sweeper looks like?" I shook my head, "Nope but I've seen Mary Poppins and "Chim, Chim Cheree" was one of my favorite songs!" Nico and Percy frowned, "Huh?" Annabeth just raised a confused eyebrow. I sighed, "You know the one that's like: _chim-chiminey, chim-chiminey chim-chim-cheree. A sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be. Chim-chiminey, chim-chiminey chim-chim-cheroo, good luck will rub off when I shake hands with you._ You know – that one?"

Nico just stared at me with his mouth open while Annabeth clapped and Percy threw another hand full of dirt at Nico. I laughed even harder than before when he got some in his open mouth. Nico grumbled and tried to spit all the dirt out while Percy laughed hysterically. I smiled and dropped a handful of dirt in my hands. I then threw it at Percy and Nico laughed as he literally flipped over trying to dodge it.

Nico tried picking up more dirt to throw it at Percy but it hit Annabeth in the jaw instead. Nico opened his mouth, "I am so . . ." He didn't finish because Annabeth got some powdery dirt and threw it at his face, except this time she missed and hit me in the forehead. I smiled evilly and grabbed some dirt to throw at both Percy and Annabeth.

It turned into a full out dirt war with Nico and me VS Percy and Annabeth. I'm not really sure who won but in the end we were all powdered with dirt, looking like chimney sweeps. We sat back down in the same spot breathing heavily. Nico lay on his back with his eyes closed. I don't know why but I suddenly found my dirt covered fingers drifting over his face. I smiled widely and drew a dark, dirt mustache on him. He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. I turned it into a goatee before he could get up. When he did he looked at Annabeth and Percy who were trying not to laugh, I couldn't help it and started loudly laughing. Annabeth was red in the face, "You look great with a goatee, Nico."

Nico furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed his iPod from out of his pocket and looked at himself in the back. His mouth tightened as he saw is dusty colored face with a dark goatee drawn on it. He smiled in a rather frightening way and then in one fluid movement had my hands behind my back. I kicked at him but his dirt covered fingers found my face and he started doodling.

When he was finished I grabbed his iPod and looked in the reflective part. I smiled widely when I saw that he had made me look like a cat with a dark nose, whiskers and curvy lines connecting my nose to my mouth making it look like a cat's mouth. I laughed and circled my fingers around his eyes, making him look nightmarish. He did the same to me and I covered his eyebrows and overlapped them to make him look angry. We both laughed and I looked up to see Percy and Annabeth smiling in a knowing way, "What?" I asked. Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly, "Nothing – nothing at all." But I could tell by the gleam in her eyes and her smile that it wasn't "nothing."

My mouth opened to say something but suddenly a conch horn sounded signaling lunchtime. Percy sighed, "Hey Nico, can you go wake up Rachel? She'd probably kill us if she found out she missed lunch." Nico sighed, "Yep, sure." He then looked at me, "You wanna come?" I nodded and jumped up on my feet, grabbing Nico's hand to help him up.

Once we were both up Nico led me to where Rachel stayed. I posed like a superhero, "Kitty Girl and Satyr Man to the rescue!" Nico stopped me, "Okay, Kitty Girl I get but Satyr Man . . .?" I shrugged, "It's Satyr Man because you have a _goat_ee and satyrs are half _goat _half . . ." Nico rolled his eyes with a smile as he interrupted, "Yeah I get it." I smiled and followed Nico.

After walking all the way to the Big House we walked inside and stepped up the stairs. Nico pointed to a door that must've led to Rachel's room. I sprang forward and put my hand on the handle. I knocked with the door cracked and waited for an answer. I didn't hear one and knocked once again. No answer.

My feet led me inside and I looked around a room decorated with artwork and posters. Nico stayed behind me, leaning on the doorframe. I stepped forward until I could touch the bed when suddenly the door creaked. I assumed it was Nico and didn't move. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I whipped my head around to look and see a hand clenched onto my shoulder. I felt the skin bruise and yelled in pain. I heard Nico's footsteps and his voice shouting, "Rachel STOP!" I turned my head a little more and saw Rachel's familiar red hair and the hand on my shoulder leading to her body.

My gaze landed on her eyes which before were a dark green but now shone in a glowing bright jade. _What have I gotten myself into now? _

**A/N: Okay Chapter 19 is finished! :P same as last time but I want to thank anyone and everyone who has reviewed, PMed, alerted, or favorited because I really appreciate it! I can't help but smile when I see a good review thank you for your support and your comments! XD HERE WE GO**

**1 review = update on July 10th**

**2 reviews = update on July 8th**

**3 reviews = update on July 6th**

**4 reviews = update on July 3rd**

**5 reviews = update on July 1st**

**6 reviews = update tomorrow**

**7 reviews or more = update tomorrow w/ 2 chapters**

**Thank you again for reviewing, PMing, favoriting, alerting, and giving me feedback :D also that danger part is more funny when you remember that Jay still looks like a cat and Nico still looks like Satyr Man. :3**


	22. Chapter 20

**By the end of this chapter I'll have 30,000 words! :3 **

**I have bad news at the end of this story D:**

Chapter 20

The answer is a poem . . . of sorts.

The eyes of Rachel burned into my soul making it harder and harder to struggle from her grasp. Green mist swirled around the room masking the posters and drawings with a greenish light. I heard Nico trying to pry Rachel's hand from me but he didn't have any luck.

Suddenly his face appeared in front of me. He looked directly in my eyes, "Okay, you'll have to wait until she's done." I glared at him, "Done with what?" Nico sighed and suddenly Rachel's hand let go. I whipped around as fast as I could and backed away from her.

Rachel's skin was almost a glowing pale. Her eyes were glowing jade, covering the pupils and the whites of her eyes. Her hair was whipping around furiously as if she was in a wind storm and her body floated about a foot in the air. Nico grabbed my hand and stood in front of me in a protective stance.

The voice of an older woman spoke through Rachel's mouth. In a wise voice that seemed to have multiple people talking in it she spoke.

"_The eagle is angry at the torch lit aflame_

_He plots against 12 in his path of blame_

_7 shall quest before knowledge is said_

_Troubling the mask and the son of the dead_

_The captain of rocks is where they must travel_

_Secrets of love will shortly unravel_

_Ending the threat is what must be done_

_But remember that the trouble has only begun."_

Rachel blinked and her eyes turned back to normal. She fell to the ground and groaned. I knelt down next to her and saw she was asleep. Nico helped me put her back up onto the bed and we decided that we would wake her up at dinner. As we walked out towards the door I heard her laptop make a bell sound.

Turning back I saw on the screen a box that said in bolded letters: **you have – 1 – new email! **I raised an eyebrow and drifted over to the laptop. Nico followed, "What are you doing?" He hissed in an almost silent whisper. I didn't answer, my shoulder still throbbed and I was too shaken to speak. I clicked the "OK" button and it linked me to her email account. My timid hand moved over the mouse pad and directed the arrow to the inbox. A highlighted strip was blinking on the screen. It read that it was from "Mr. Dare."

After clicking on it and hearing another quiet protest from Nico I felt my mouth frown. In the email there were a few boxes that if I clicked on – it would play a video. After making sure the volume was at mute I clicked on the box.

The video showed a room that I suspected was another one of Rachel's from the drawings and posters on the walls. Plus in the bed there was the sleeping form of Rachel. I furrowed my eyebrows and kept watching. After a while nothing happened but suddenly Rachel shot up out of the bed and walked to a desk near the mattress. She grabbed a pencil and started _drawing on the walls. _I saw that the video lasted 24 minutes and 18 seconds so I fast forwarded it and saw the ending result of the picture.

Nico's eyes bugged and I back up in the rolling chair a little bit. I clicked the pause button on the video quickly and saw the picture that Rachel had drawn on the wall.

There in the video on the wall in Rachel's room that Rachel had sketched was a perfectly detailed mural of two people. They were two people with swords. There was a boy and a girl. The boy and the girl were probably demigods. I can tell you this because it was a perfectly detailed mural of Nico and me.

We were standing next to each other with our arms linked. In our other arms we held swords. It looked like someone had taken a picture and pasted it on her wall it looked so perfect. We were both looking at each other with smiles on our faces – almost as if the shadowy creatures that Rachel had also drawn around us didn't exist.

The text below the video said in all caps: WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? NOW I HAVE TO GET THE ROOM REPAINTED! WHERE ARE YOU? YOU NEED TO COME HOME RIGHT NOW!

I looked over at Rachel who was still sleeping. I X'd out of the window and shut down the laptop. Nico had his hands in his hair with his eyes wide and unblinking. I grabbed his elbow and he seemed to snap back into reality. "Let's go." I whispered. He nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the Big House. We walked to the dining pavilion and Nico walked me over to his table. In a tone that suggested that he was deep in thought he said, "I'll go tell Chiron." I nodded and watched as he walked away.

I desperately hoped that no one came up to me and asked what was going on because I honestly would probably tell them everything that happened I didn't know if that was the thing to do now. I tried to focus on the words in the prophecy. The first line, _"The eagle is angry at the torch lit aflame" _Seemed to be one of the weirder lines in the prophecy.

When I think eagle I think Zeus. So Zeus is mad at somebody. If we're already doing symbols for the gods then a flaming torch must be a symbol of a god! I tried thinking about what god could have a flaming torch as their symbol when suddenly I saw Nico slip into a seat at the table. I was about to tell Nico about my idea when Chiron's voice echoed throughout the pavilion.

"A new prophecy has been spoken!" A collection of gasps surfaced throughout the room. Chiron continued, "Nico and Jay were there when the prophecy was given. Nico, would you like to repeat the prophecy?" Nico looked like he wanted to shake his head no but stood up and said the cursed words,

"The eagle is angry at the torch lit aflame

He plots against 12 in his path of blame

7 shall quest before knowledge is said

Troubling the mask and the son of the dead

The captain of rocks is where they must travel

Secrets of love will shortly unravel

Ending the threat is what must be done

But remember that trouble has only begun."

When he was done everyone was silent. He sat down quickly and grabbed my hand from under the table. Chiron cleared his throat, "Seven demigods will go on this quest. Nico di Angelo and Jay Pouli have already been included. That leaves 5 undetermined demigods for the quest." He turned to Nico and me with an amused glint in his eyes, "Choose wisely." He stepped off the stage and suddenly a wave of demigods asking to go on the quest filled my ears. Well, this'll be fun. Note sarcasm.

**(A/N: A liar's life is a rough one. :( okay so I can't update 2 stories if i get 7 reviews because I NEED OCs! :D I need OCs for the magicaltastic quest in which 7 demigods shall embark on. :) I hope that makes up for not being able to do 2 updates :( I promise that once I get all the OCs then I'll update 2 chapters, kay? So if you have an account on FF then send me a PM if you don't have an account then send a review and I suggest that you get an account! :) I can't even BEGIN to make the next chapter if I don't have any OCs so I'll put it this way: No OCs = no story I can't put up another chapter without em! Thanks for those who reviewed and I might even do 3 chapters after I get the OCs as long as you bear with me while I get them. THANK YOU! Have a cookie for your troubles :)**


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The answer is Lindsay.

Nico shadow-travelled us as soon as the first few demigods asked if they could come on our quest. Shadow-travel, might I say, is only built for children of Hades. Once we were in Nico's cabin I had to grab onto something so that I wouldn't fall over. My stomach churned and I leaned on the wall for a good 5 minutes before feeling good enough to stand on my own.

I stood up straight and looked Nico in the eyes. He seemed a little drowsy but mostly suspicious – as if he suspected a horde of demigods to crawl out from under his bed, asking to come on the quest. His eyes found mine and I smiled as he softened and relaxed a little.

The chattering in the mess hall could faintly be heard from all the way in Hades cabin. I wearily sat down on Nico's bed and jumped up as soon as I realized I was actually sitting on Nico's bed. It took my mind a little longer than my actions to notice how embarrassing it was.

Hoping that Nico didn't notice my obvious red face, I brushed passed him and sat on a loveseat near a fireplace in the middle of the room. I watched the green flames flickering above the obsidian stone fire pit and breathed deeply, still trying to settle my stomach.

The cushions sunk down as Nico sat next to me. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes when Nico bluntly stated, "We have to find 5 demigods."

I nodded and felt the familiar sag of my shoulders as pressure weighed down on me, "We should probably find them all by the end of tomorrow if we want to get on this quest and figure out what's going on."

Nico groaned and slouched farther into the loveseat, "Do we _have to?" _He complained while I grinned.

"No, the last few hours of our lives have been a test that the gods inflicted on us, so you can go to bed and wake up to be back in your normal life." Sarcasm dripped from my voice while Nico straightened and rolled his eyes with a smile.

There was suddenly a knock at the door and I jumped up to answer it. Nico's suspicious face came back and he trailed along behind me. I grabbed the doorknob and flung it open to see Rebecca. Well, at least I thought it was Rebecca. That is, until I noticed the differences.

The girl I thought was Rebecca had dark auburn hair – not dark brown – that went to the middle of her back. Her eyes were an almost shining golden color – not blue – and her skin was a light bronze color – not pale. She was a little taller than Rebecca and had more muscle in her upper arms and legs.

There were so many differences I didn't know why I would've thought she was Rebecca when I noticed that they had similar facial structures and the same glowing aura around them.

The girl smiled a warm smile that seemed to heat up the room a few degrees. She wrung her hands together, "Um, hi, I'm Artemis . . ."

Nico interrupted her, "Artemis?" He popped up from where he was hiding behind the door with an eyebrow raised, "How are you Artemis?"

The girl sighed as if she were asked this often, "I'm Artemis _Earnheart. _I have a last name. Um, I'm Rebecca's sister."

I leaned on one leg, "A daughter of Apollo?"

Artemis nodded, "Yeah, well, Rebecca wanted me to let you know that Chiron has given her a quest and that she'll be leaving tomorrow."

"_What?" _I asked in utter surprise.

Artemis smiled sheepishly but still held the confident glow, "She wanted me to tell you because she had to pack. She also wants to see you two tonight at the docks."

I nodded in a slight daze of confusion, "Yeah, sure."

Artemis smiled once more and left. I looked at Nico and shut the door, "Why do you think Chiron's sending people on quests?"

Nico shrugged and frowned thoughtfully, "I don't know. I honestly have not a clue in the world."

I smirked and sat back in my original spot, "So that Artemis girl seemed nice."

Nico nodded, "Yeah, it's funny how her name is Artemis and she's from the Apollo cabin. I bet Apollo owed his sister something again."

I rolled my eyes, "Or maybe it's because Artemis is an awesome name and Apollo cares for his sister."

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, and I care for doughnuts but I'm not going to name my child after one."

I smirked, "Since when do you have a child?"

Nico opened his mouth and turned a little red. He closed his mouth and left the question unanswered. I looked from the fire to Nico.

"Do you have any food?"

Nico connected the gaze, "Why?"

"We never got to eat any dinner." I frowned.

"We could go back to the dining pavilion." Nico suggested.

"Yeah," I snorted, "And on the way there I'll strap a bomb to my chest and it'll be even more of a suicide mission."

Nico raised an eyebrow and I nearly punched my own stomach to kill the butterfly effect he had on me. There were a few seconds of silence before his eyebrows shot up and he stood from his seat.

"I'll be right back." He said quietly.

I stood up, slower, and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Back from where?"

"That's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises."

"And I don't like pickles – do you?"

The random question threw me off – and I'm usually a master at questions and random, "What?"

"Do you like pickles?" He asked.

"No . . .?"

"Thought so . . ." He absently muttered to himself.

My eyebrow rose further, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Probably not," he said truthfully.

"Do you enjoy doing this to me?" I sighed, sitting back down again.

"Do you like diet soda?" He asked, not answering my question although by now I wasn't expecting an answer from him.

"Hades no," I sniffed and he smiled. Despite my effort I smiled back and he nodded.

"Again," he said, "I'll be right back."

"Mm'kay?" It came out as a question although I didn't mean it to.

I blinked and he was gone. It took me a few seconds to realize he had shadow-travelled. I sighed and stood up, not knowing what to do – only knowing that I couldn't go outside without being attacked by rabid demigods.

Absentmindedly I wandered to a bookshelf filled to the brim with random books, CDs, papers, and knick-knacks. There didn't seem to be much order other than the CDs sat on their own shelf, the books on their own shelves. Everywhere I saw papers sticking out of everything. There was notebook paper, a few invites, drawings, and post-its.

My hand traced along the shelf that was chest-level to me which was filled with books and papers. I could smell the dust and old paper surrounding the entire shelf and breathed deeply, feeling like I was at the library back in Alter Wood.

I wondered to myself what would've happened if I had stayed there. Would I be taking a test right now? Would I have started dating someone? Would I have gone home to my guardian this summer?

_Oh flipping crap. _I thought – except I didn't use the word "flipping" and I didn't use the word "crap." I grabbed a drachma off the bookshelf and went into the bathroom connected to the main room.

I turned the sink on and opened the curtain to create a rainbow. I threw the drachma in, "O Iris, accept my offering. Show me Lindsay Howard, 1234 Indigo Way." A large bubble showed up and I saw Lindsay dancing to Zumba.

I stifled my laughter and felt nostalgic memories take over my mind as I saw Lindsay. Lindsay was 27 years old going on 12. She was a completely childish girl. She had long wavy blonde hair with one hot pink streak in it and one blue streak in it. She had freckles sprinkled all over her nose and blue eyes. She was short and seemed to be making an effort to copy the dancer's moves on the screen.

I couldn't hold it any longer I shouted out, "You go girl!"

Lindsay whipped around and jumped three feet in the air when she saw me. She turned the TV off and walked closer to the image of me in our living room.

"Jay! I see you've made it to Camp Half-Blood or else you wouldn't be IMing me." Lindsay greeted.

"You know about Camp Half-Blood?" I asked in absolute shock.

Lindsay made a noise between a chuckle and a snort, "Are you kidding me? I'm a demigod just like you, Jaybird. Child of Hermes at your service."

"Huh. And you never thought to tell me." I accused.

She rolled her eyes, "Well, I couldn't you had to figure it out for yourself. Ooh! Who's your godly parent?" She took a long swig of water.

"Mnemosyne." I answered.

She spit the water out of her mouth, "_What? _You're a –cough- daughter of –cough- Mnemosyne?" She said nearly choking.

"Yep, and I have to say you've had the best reaction yet." I put in.

She frowned and narrowed her eyes, "So, Jaybird, any hot guys at Camp Half Blood?"

I blushed despite trying to swallow it down and Lindsay smiled, "So there is!" She exclaimed.

"Who is he?" She said taking another swig of water.

"Son of Hades," I said simply.

Again the water went everywhere.

"What? What's his name?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Nico di Angelo."

"Yes?" Nico's voice suddenly came from the other room. I jumped and peeked out of the bathroom door to see Nico putting some DQ on a little coffee table.

"Uh, nothing I'm just talking to, uh, someone." I replied.

Nico raised an eyebrow and walked into the bathroom and saw Lindsay.

_Oh my gods, _I thought.

"Hey," Lindsay said to Nico, "I'm Lindsay – do you want to see Jay's baby photos?"

_Crap._

**Hey, did ya miss me? Or do you just want to kill me for taking so long to update? Most of you may choose the latter and I'm so sorry for that! I'm not necessarily as happy with this chapter as I am for the upcoming ones but you'll just have to wait and see for them! Thank you for my reviewers and my PMers - to those that don't like this story I am truly sorry that you don't enjoy it. :) Anyways I've decided I'll be using all the OCs given to me but not all of them for the quest. All of them have VERY important roles to play so you needn't fret. So yeah, HUZZAH! IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK AT FANFICTION! :P **

**P.S. Thank you to FoxBracken-Pheonix Everren for Artemis Earnheart I wanted to introduce her in this chapter because she's important later. I also want to thank PeaceLoveBooks987, farawayfromnowhere, Guest (you should get an account), sarsar911, .N, and Avalongirl55 for giving me OCs (I hope I got everybody!) **

**Bye! Have some cupcakes! =] **


	24. Author's Note 2

_**Hello! **_

_**So if you have psychic abilities and already know what this note is for, please don't hate me. For those of you without psychic abilitieswhen I will explain what is going on.**_

_**This story's on hiatus until I can get a working computer in my house. Not because I can't type from my iPad, but because the next 4 chapters were on my laptop and I want to see if I can recover them before I start typing on here. **_

_**I may or may not start another story since I have like 30 other stories I've started to write down on my iPad. Like literally, I counted.**_

_**I don't this will be a long hiatus, at most it'll probably be 2-3 months but I'm hoping I can get my computer fixed before that!**_

_**I love you ALL!**_

_**AnonymousMidget99**_


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